UC-NRLF 


AN 


ADDRESS 


DELIVERED  JULY  20,  1830, 


BEFORE     THE 


PEITHESSOPHIAN    AND    PHILOCLEAN 
Societies 

OF 

K  TJ  T  G  E  K  S     COLLEGE. 


HON.     WILLIAM     W  I  R  T 


an&  ^nblislieii  at  the  request  of  tjje 


locirtq. 


F  O  I'  R  T  II     E  !>'  I  T  I  O  X  . 


A  .     AC  K  E  R  M  A  N  ,     P  1.7  B  L  I  S  TF  E  K 

1852. 


Kntrred  according  to  Act  of  Coiiarc.--*.   in  the  year  1^52,  by 
EDWARD  S.  VAIL-  &    HENRY    R.   BALDWIN, 

In  the  Clerk's    Office    for    the  District   of  Nevv-Jersev. 


1'RIN'TF.  RS. 


nf 


EDWARD  S.  VAIL, 
HENRY  R.  BALDWIN, 
EDWARD  W.  APPLETON 
CORNELIUS  L.  WELLS, 
DENISE  IT.  SMOCK. 


PREFACE. 


THE  following  ADDRESS  was  originally  published  by  the  Peithesso- 
phian  Society  in  pamphlet  form,  for  the  special  benefit  of  the  Literary 
Institution  before  which  it  was  delivered  ;  but  the  distinguished 
reputation  of  the  author,  as  a  scholar  arid  a  patriot,  together  with  the 
great  merit  which  the  work  was  found  to  possess,  caused  it  to  pass 
rapidly  through  three  editions.  In  the  meantime  it  found  its  way 
across  the  Atlantic,  and  was  re-published  in  England.  Soon  after, 
it  was  translated  into  the  French  language,  and  published  in  Paris  ; 
and  subsequently  in  Germany,  in  the  German  language.  During 
all  this  time  there  has  been  a  regular  and  an  .increasing  demand 
for  the  work  at  home,  which  has  induced  the  Society  to  put  it 
in  a  more  substantial  and  desirable  form. 

The  prophetic  language  of  the  author,  in  relation  to  the  future 
prospects  and  perils  of  our  Republic,  and  the  influence  which  the 
educated  youth  of  our  country  may  have  upon  its  future  desti 
nies,  will  render  this  work,  especially  at  this  critical  period  of  our 
history,  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the  library  of  every  youthful 
patriot. 

.  NEW-BRUNSWICK.  January,  1852. 


INTRODUCTION 

B  Y 

HON.  THEODORE   FRELINGHUYSEN,  LI*.  D., 

P  P.  V,  S  I  D  K  N  T    OF    R  U  T  G  E  R  S    C  O  L  I,  J;l  G  E  . 


WILLIAM  WIKT,  the  author  oi'  the  following  address,  was  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  public  men  of  our  country ;  a  native  of  Maryland  ; 
born  on  the  8th  of  November,  1772,  and  died  at  the  City  of  Washing 
ton,  on  the  18th  of  February,  1834.  lie  was  a  man  of  noble  and  generous 
feelings,  of  rare  and  various  learning,  refined  taste  and  vigorous  intel 
lect.  The  address  which  follows,  especially  in  its  counsels  to  youno- 
men,  illustrates  his  character,  and  will  embalm  his  memory.  And  to 
crown  and  adorn  the  whole,  Mr.  Wirt  was  a  Christian ;  deeply  read  in 
the  plague  of  his  own  heart,  and  in  the  nature  and  glory  of  the  way  of 
salvation.  His  accomplished  biographer*  has  given  an  interesting  and 
graphic  sketch  of  his  religious  character : 

"  As  life  advanced,  his  convictions  of  the  truth  and  value  of  Chris 
tian  revelation,  and  of  the  duties  it  imposed  upon  him,  became  more 
earnest  and  profound.  He  devoted  a  portion  of  his  time  every  day  to 
the  reading  of  the  Scriptures ;  engaged  in  a  comprehensive  study  of 
theology ;  cultivated  habits  of  prayer  and  meditation,  which  he  pro 
moted  and  encouraged  throughout  his  family  ;  and  frequently  employed 
his  leisure  in  the  composition  of  religious  essays  and  records  of  pri 
vate  devotion.  He  took  great  interest  in  the  promotion  of  moral  and 
religious  institutions,  in  the  missionary  labors  of  the  churches,  in  the 
extension  of  the  Sunday-schools,  in  the  success  of  the  Bible  societies  • 
and  was,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  the  President  of  the  State  Bible 
Society  of  Maryland.  He  was  a  most  effective  friend  of  the  cause  of 
temperance,  and  often  sought  opportunity  to  testify  to  the  great  im 
portance  which  he  attached  to  the  labors  of  the  societies  connected 
with  it.  '  I  have  been,  for  more  than  forty  years,'  he  remarks,  in  a 
letter  which  has  been  frequently  published,  'a  close  observer  of  life 
and  manners  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States ;  and  I  know  not 
the  evil  that  will  bear  a  moment's  comparison  with  intemperance.'  In 
short,  the  latter  years  especially,  of  Mr.  Wirt's  life,  furnish  us  the  spec 
tacle  of  a  highly-gifted,  thoughtful  and  accomplished  mind,  stimulated 
by  a  fervent  and  sincere  piety,  and  employed  in  the  promotion  of  every 
good  work,  suggested  by  enlightened  benevolence  or  Christian  duty. 


VIM  INTRODUCTION. 

His  theological  .-Indies  wore  systematically*  pursued  through  nmnv 
years,  in  whatever  leisure  his  profession  allowed  him.  Hi.s  lavorite 
authors  were  Hooker,  Baxter,  Watts,  Faber,  Flavel,  Robert  Hall. 
Doddridge,  and  Jay.  Massillon  and  Bourdaloue  were  frequently  in 
his  hands.  Of  Baxter,  he  pays,  in  a  letter  to  his  daughter  :  'I  took  up 
the  Saint's  Jb'st  lately,  and  found  it  like  an  old  sandal- wood  box,  as 
o.ijsh  and  fragrant  as  if  it  had  just  been  made,  although  it  h;i<  been 
exhaling  its  odor  for  one  hundred  and  eighty  years.' 

"He  had  been  a  careless  witness,  in  his  younger  days,  to  that  pre 
valence  of  free-thinking,  in  reference  to  the  authenticity  of  the  Chris 
tian  religion,  which,  at  that  period,  had  become  somewhat  notable  in 
Virginia,  The  reflections  of  his  riper  age  pictured  this  tendency  of 
opinion  to  his  mind  as  an  insidious  and  fearful  malady,  which  was  not 
less  destructive  of  the  integrity  of  the  social  constitution,  than  it  was 
perilous  to  the  individual.  He  had  him -elf  read  Voltaire.  Bolingbroke. 
Hume.  Gibbon,  Shaftesbury,  Bousseau.  Paine,  and  Godwin,  and  other 
strong  or  striking  writers  of  that  school;  but  they  had  not  shaken  the 
ground-work  of  his  faith.  He  could  read  and  admhv.  discriminate  and 
repel.  He  was.  nevertheless,  fully  aware  of  the  fascination  which 
their  learning,  genius,  wit  and  eloquence  gave  to  their  intrepid  skepti 
cism,  lie  had  often  occasion  to  remark  how  brilliant  paradox  and  bold 
assault  upon  common  opinion,  witty  apothegm  and  dexterous  satire 
captivate  even  vigorous  minds,  predisposed  by  education  or  by  temper  to 
assail  whatsoever  rests  upon  the  authority  of  the  past ;  and  his  personal 
experience  had  warned  him  how  much  more  subtly  these  devices 
were  calculated  to  ensnare  and  capture  the  unfortified  mind  of  youth. 
This  conviction  ripened  into  a  painful  solicitude,  of  which  we  have 
many  proofs  in  his  correspondence." 


ADDRESS, 


YOUNG  GENTLEMEN  OF  RUTGERS  COLLEGE  : 

IT  is  by  your  invitation  that  I  am  here,  and 
to  yon,  of  course,  that  I  am  expected  to  address 
myself.  Permit  me,  in  the  first  place,  to  thank 
you  for  the  honor  of  the  invitation.  You  have 
done  me  justice  in  believing  that  I  take  a  dee}) 
interest  in  the  pursuits  of  my  young  countrymen, 
and  that  I  would  not,  lightly,  permit  any  con 
sideration  of  personal  inconvenience  to  disappoint 
the  desire  yon  have  expressed  to  hear  me.  You 
will  probably  learn,  from  my  compliance,  one  les 
son  of  experience,  at  least — and  lessons  of  experi 
ence  cannot  come  too  soon — which  is,  that  in  the 
intellectual  as  well  as  the  material  world,  distant 
objects  are  apt  to  loom  larger  than  the  life,  and 
that  you  are  hot  to  trust,  with  implicit  confidence, 
to  the  Reports  of  Fame,  whether  they  relate  to 
men  or  things. 


10  WIRT'S  ADDRESS. 

Gentlemen,  you  do  not,  I  hope,  expect,  from  me, 
an  oration  for  display.  At  my  time  of  life,  and 
worn  down,  as  I  am,  by  the  toils  of  a  laborious 
profession,  yon  can  no  longer  look  for  the  spirit 
and  buoyancy  of  youth.  Spring  is  the  season  of 
flowers  ;  but  I  am  in  the  autumn  of  life,  and  you 
will,  1  hope,  accept  from  me  the  fruits  of  my 
experience,  in  lieu  of  the  more  showy,  but  less 
substantial,  blossoms  of  spring. 

Gentlemen,  I  could  not  have  been  tempted  hither 
for  the  puerile  purpose  of  display.  My  yisit  has  a 
much  grayer  motive  and  object.  It  is  the  hope 
of  making  some  suggestion  that  may  be  service 
able  in  the  journey  of  life  that  lies  before  you — of 
calling  into  action  some  dormant  energy — of  point 
ing  your  exertions  to  some  attainable  end  of  prac 
tical  utility — in  short,  the  hope  of  contributing,  in 
some  small  degree,  towards  making  you  happier  in 
yourselves,  and  more  useful  to  your  country.  This 
alone  could  have  tempted  me  to  forego  the  short 
interval  of  repose  allotted  for  my  health,  and  to 
venture  upon  a  field  of  speaking  so  far  removed 
from  the  ordinary  walks  of  my  profession. 

I  consider  the  cause  of  education  as  the  cause 
of  ni}'  country  ;  for  the  youth,  who  are  now  at 
their  studies,  will  soon  compose  that  country.  On 
them,  in  a  very  few  years,  must  rest  the  whole 
burthen  of  sustaining  the  political  institutions,  the 


WIRT'S  ADDRESS.  11 

liberty  and  happiness  of  the  United  States.  I  con 
sider  the  learned  men,  who  are  directing  the  stu 
dies  and  forming  the  character  of  our  youth,  as 
engaged  in  the  noblest  employment  that  can  task 
the  powers  of  man.  They  are,  in  truth,  weaving 
the  web  of  the  future  destinies  of  our  country, 
and  on  their  skill  and  fidelity  depend,  in  a  great 
degree,  the  texture,  the  strength  and  the  color  of 
that  web.  I  hold  it  to  be  the  duty  of  every 
American  citizen,  who  can  aid  them  in  this  pro 
cess,  to  furnish  the  aid;  if  it  be  only  by  those 
demonstrations  of  respect  which  are  calculated  to 
cheer  them  and  their  pupils  omvard,  in  their  ardu 
ous  and  honorable  task,  this  tribute  should  be 
promptly  and  willingly  rendered. 

SucJi,  my  young  friends,  are  the  sentiments 
which  have  led  to  my  visit ;  such  the  feelings 
with  which  I  have  come  among  you.  You  have 
been  pleased  to  think  that  I  may  be  of  some  ser 
vice  ;  and  I  have  been  willing*,  as  you  see,  to  make 
the  experiment.  But  you  will  permit  me  to  speak 
for  your  instruction,  rather  than  your  amusement, 
and  to  leave  it  to  younger  men  to  play  the  orator. 

Suffer  me,  jn  the  first  place,  to  call  your  atten 
tion  to  the  .power  of  this  great  magician — Edu 
cation — in  forming  and  directing  the  human  char 
acter.  It  is  of  consequence  that  you  should  dis 
tinctly  apprehend  the  prodigies  of  which  it  is  capa- 


12  WIRT'S  ADDRESS. 

hie,  in  order  that  you  may  perceive  the  decisive 
importance  of  the-  work  in  which  yon  are  engaged, 
and  apply  yourselves,  with  corresponding  earnest 
ness,  to  the  performance  of  this  work. 

We  learn,  from  divine  revelation,  a  truth,  which, 
to  the  discomfiture  of  the  infidel,  the  discoveries 
of  modern  science  are  rapidly  confirming — that  the 
whole  human  family  has  descended  from  a  single 
pair.  With  this  fact  "before  us,  how  wonderfully 
curious  is  it  to  observe  the  vast  variety  of  character 
into  which  this  common  family  lias  been  modified  ; 
their  religion,  Jaws,  manners,  customs,  opinions, 
sentiments,  tastes,  how  infinitely  diversified  !  How 
is  this  to  be  explained  t  Whatever  share  climate, 
accident  or  caprice,  may  be  conjectured  to  have 
had  in  the  origination  of  this  variety,  we 'know 
that  from  time  immemorial,  it  lias  "been  continued 
among  them  by  the  force  of  education ;  and  that 
from  the  earliest  period  of  authentic  history  to  the 
present  day,  they  have  been,  and  still  are,  the  mere 
creatures  of  education.  But  let  us  pass  from  this 
general  survey  to  one  more  particular,  in  which 
extrinsic  causes  could  have  had  no  agency ;  but 
the  whole  phenomenon  must  be  referred  to  the 
force  of  education.  Tho^e  two  small- republics  of 
Greece,  Athens  and  Sparta,  are,  both  of  them, 
believed  to  have  been,  in  their  origin,  Egyptian 
colonies ;  they  had,  therefore,  the  same  mother 


WIRT'S  ADDRESS. 

country.     They  were  nearly  coeval  in  their  settle 
ment  :  they  were,  therefore,  of  the  same  age.     They 
were  near  neighbors ;  they  lived,  therefore,  under 
the  influence  of  the  same  climate.     Their  general 
political  interests  were  the  same,  and  their  inter 
course  was  frequent  and  constant.     Yet  were  the}', 
in  their  modes  of  -thinking,  speaking,   and  acting, 
as  diametrically,  as  obstinately,  and  proudly  oppos 
ed,  as  if  they  had  inhabited  the  opposite  sides  of 
the    globe.      Nor   need    we    leave    the   walls    of 
Athens  itself,  to  see  exemplified  the   astonishing 
power  of  this  great  moral  lever — Education.     The 
different  sects  of  philosophers  in  that  city,  were  as 
strikingly   distinguished,   and   the   classes  of  men 
whom  they  threw  into  society,  from  their  schools, 
were   as   strongly   contrasted   in   their    modes   of 
thinking  and  principles  of  acting,,  as  if  they  had 
been  parted  by  the  poles.     The   same  is  equally 
true  in  modern  times.     Compare  France  with  her 
neighbor,  Switzerland — compare  the  different  can 
tons  of  Switzerland  among  themselves — nay,  coin- 
pare  even  the  different  counties  of  the  small  king 
dom  of  England  ;  cast  your  eyes  over  the  earth,  in 
any  direction,  and  you  will  see,  on  every  hand,  the 
most  interesting  and  convincing  proofs  of  the  plas 
tic  temper  of  man,  and  of  the  infinite  variety  of 
forms  into  which  he  may  be  moulded  by  the  single 
force  of  education.     It  is  th     power  of  the  potter 


14 

over  the  clay,  which  makes  one  vessel  to  honor, 
and  another  to  dishonor;  with  this  advantage  in 
our  favor,  that  unlike  the  vessels  of  the  potter,  we 
have  a  voice,  and  a  voice  potential  too,  if  we 
choose  to  exert  it,  in  fixing  our  own  destination  ; 
since,  for  our  consolation,  but,  at  the  same  time,  to 
our  fearful  responsibility,  it  depends  essentially  on 
ourselves,  whether  we  will  be  doomed  to  honor  or 
dishonor. 

And  this  leads  me,  gentlemen,  to  another  re 
mark,  to  which  I  invite  your  attention.  It  is  this : 
The  Education,  moral  and  intellectual,  of  every  in 
dividual,  must  be,  cliiejiy,  Ids,  own  work.  There  is 
a  prevailing  and  a  fatal  mistake  on  this  subject. 
It  seems  to  be  supposed  that  if  a  young  man  be 
sent  first  to  a  grammar  school,  and  then  to  college, 
lie  must,  of  course,  become  a  scholar;  and  the 
pupil  himself  is  apt  to  imagine  that  he  is  to  be  the 
mere  passive  recipient  of  instruction,  as  he  is  of  the 
light  and  atmosphere  which  surround  him.  But 
this  dream  of  indolence  must  be  dissipated,  and 
you  must  be  awakened  to  the  important  truth  that, 
if  you  aspire  to  excellence,  you  must  become  active 
and  vigorous  co-operators  with  your  teachers,  and 
work  out  your  own  distinction,  with  an  ardor  that 
cannot  be  quenched,  a  perseverance  that  considers 
nothing  done  while  anything  yet  remains  to  be 
done.  Eely  upon  it,  that  the  ancients  were  right 


15 

— Quisque  su&  fortunce  fader — both  in  morals  and 
intellect,  we  give  their  final  shape  to  our  own  char 
acters,  and  thus  become,  emphatically,  the  archi 
tects  of  our  fortunes.  How  else  should  it  happen, 
gentlemen,  that  young  men,  who  have  had  pre 
cisely  the  same  opportunities,  should  be  continually 
presenting  us  with  such  different  results,  and  rush 
ing  to  such  opposite  destinies  ?  Difference  of  tal 
ent  will  not  solve  it,  because  that  difference  is  very 
often  in  favor  of  the  disappointed  candidate.  You 
shall  see  issuing*  from  the  walls  of  the  same  school 
—nay,  sometimes,  from  the  bosom  of  the  same 
family — two  young  men,  of  whom  the  one  shall 
be  admitted  to  be  a  genius  of  high  order,  the  other, 
scarcely  above  the  point  of  mediocrity ;  yet,  you 
shall  see  the  genius  sinking  and  perishing  in  poverty, 
obscurity  and  wretchedness  ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  you  shall  observe  the  mediocre  plodding  his 
slow  but  sure  way  up  the  hill  of  life,  gaining  stead 
fast  footing  at  every  step,  and  mounting,  at  length, 
to  eminence  and  distinction,  an  ornament  to  his 
family,  a  blessing  to  his  country.  Xow,  whose 
Avork  is  this  I  Manifestly  their  own.  They  are 
the  architects  of  their  respective  fortunes.  The 
best  seminary  of  learning  that  can  open  its  portals 
to  you,  can  do  no  more  than  to  afford  to  you  the 
opportunity  of  instruction :  but  it  must  depend,  at 
last,  on  yourselves,  whether  you  will  be  instructed 


IKT'S  ADDKESS. 

or  not,  or  to  what  point  you  will  push  your  in 
struction.  And  of  this  be  assured — I  speak,  from 
observation,  a  certain  truth :  There  i&  no  excellence 
without  great  labor.  It  is  the  fait  of  Fate,  from 
which  no  power  of  genius  can  absolve  you.  Ge 
nius,  unexerted,  is  like  the  poor  moth,  that  nutters 
around  a  candle  till  it  scorches  itself  to  death.  If 
genius  be  desirable  at  all,  it  is  only  of  that  great 
and  magnanimous  kind,  which,  like  the  Condor  of 
South  America,  pitches  from  the  summit  of  Chim- 
borazo  above  the  clouds,  and  sustains  itself,  in  that 
empyreal  region,  with  an  energy  rather  invigorated 
than  weakened  by  the  effort.  It  is  this  capacity 
for  high  and  long-continued  exertion — this  vigor 
ous  power  of  profound  and  searching  investigation 
—this  careering  and  wide-sweeping  comprehension 
of  mind — and  those  long  reaches  of  thought,  that 

Pluck  brio-lit  honor  from  the  pale-laced  moon. 


Or,  dive  into  the  bottom  of  the  deep, 

Where  fathom  line  could  never  touch  the  ground, 

And  drag  up  drowned  honor  by  the  locks — 

This  is  the  prowess,  and  these  the  hardy  achieve 
ments  which  are  to  enrol  your  names  among  the 
great  men  of  the  earth. 

But  how  are  you  to  gain  the  nerve  and  the 
courage  for  enterprizes  of  this  pith  and  moment '. 
I  will  tell  you:  As  Milo  gained  that  strength 
which  astounded  Greece  :  7>//  ?/m/r  mr)l  wlf -disci- 


WIRT'S  ADDRESS.  17 

pline.  In  hoc  #igno  vinces :  for  this  must  be  yow 
work,  not  that  of  your  teachers  ;  and,  gentlemen,  it 
is  on  that  part  which  you  are  to  Lear  in  your  own 
education,  that  I  propose  to  address  you.  Your 
learned  professors  will  do  their  part  well.  Be  you 
not  wanting  to  yourselves,  and  you  will  accomplish 
all  that  your  parents,  friends,  and  country,  have  a 
right  to  expect. 

The  remarks  which  I  am  about  to  address  to 
you  will  be  founded  on  the  hypothesis,  that  you 
have  it  in  your  power  to  make  yourselves  just  what 
you  please  ;  and  of  the  truth  of  this  hypothesis,  to 
an  extent  quite  incredible  to  yourselves  at  this 
time,  observation  and  experience  leave  no  doubt  in 
my  own  mind.  You  may,  if  you  please,  become 
literary  fops  and  dandies,  and  acquire  the  affected 
lisp  and  drawling  nonchalance  of  the  London  cock 
ney  ;  or  you  may  learn  to  wield  the  herculean  club 
of  Doctor  Johnson.  .  You  may  skim  the  surface  of 
science,  or  fathom  its  depths.  You  may  become 
florid  declaimers,  or  cloud-compelling  reasoners. 
You  may  dwindle  into  political  ephemera,  or 
plume  your  wings  for  immortality,  with  Franklin, 
Hamilton,  Jay,  Jefferson,  the  Adamses,  and  a  host 
of  living  worthies.  You  may  become  dissolute  vo 
luptuaries  and  debauchees,  and  perish  in  disgrace ; 
or  you  may  climb  the  steeps  of  glory,  and  have  your 
names  given,  by  the  trumpet  of  Fame,  to  the  four 


18  WTRT'S 

quarters  of  the  globe.  In  short,  yon  may  become 
a  disgrace  and  a  reproach  to  this  institution,  or  her 
proudest  boast  and  honor;  you  may  make  your 
selves  the  shame  or  the  ornament  of  your  families, 
and  a  curse  or  a  blessing  to  your  country.  Can  it 
be  doubted  which  of  these  two  destinies  a  generous 
and  a  high-minded  youth  will  choose  ?  I  cannot 
permit,  myself  to  doubt  it;  but  will  take  for  grant 
ed  that  you  are  disposed  to  receive,  with  attention, 
whatever  my  experience  may  suggest  in  advance 
ment  of  that  nobler  course,  on  which  you  are  re 
solved,  to  enter ;  and  to  these  suggestions  I  will 
now  proceed. 

Let  it  be  your  first  object  to  form  to  yourselves  a 
character  suited  to  the  country  in  which  your  lot  is 
east,  so  as  to  be  able  to  play,  with  honor,  your  part 
in  the  various  scenes  both  of  public  and  of  private  life, 
in  which  you  may  be  called  to  act  or  to  suffer.  If  yon 
have  not  yet  thought  of  the  subject,  in  this  point  of 
view,  it  is  high  time  that  you  should  do  so:  for  you 
will,  soon  begin  your  journey,  and  ordinary  prudence 
dictates  that  you  should  be  providing  the  means  to 
render  it  comfortable  and  successful.  If  you  had 
to  travel  through  a  hot  and  barren  desert,  like  that 
of  Arabia,  you  would  load  your  camels  with  water 
and  provisions.  If  your  way  lay  through  a  savage 
wilderness,  or  over  mountains  infested  with  banditti, 
von  would  furnish  vourselves  with  armor  for  your 


19 

defence.  The  same  prudent  foresight  calls  upon 
you  to  examine  well  the  character  of  the  country, 
and  of  the  age  into  which  it  has  been  the  pleasure 
of  Providence  to  place  you :  and  to  supply  your 
selves,  now,  with  those  qualities,  moral  and  intel 
lectual,  that  may  best  enable  you  to  sustain,  with 
advantage,  the  various  parts  that  may  be  cast  for 
you  in  the  drama  of  life.  Permit  me  to  assist  you 
in  this  preparatory  examination,  not  with  reference 
to  the  whole  train  of  your  duties,  (for  that  would 
be  beyond  the  compass  of  a  discourse  like  this,)  but 
with  the  view  of  discovering  whether  there  be  any 
leading  or  master  quality,  which  the  character  of 
the  country  and  of  the  age  indicate  as  pre-eminently 
worthy  of  peculiar  culture. 

The  duties  which  you  will  have  to  perform  divide 
themselves  into  two  classes:  they  are  public  and 
private.  By  your  public  duties,  I  mean  those  which 
result  from  the  political  institutions  under  which  you 
live :  and  to  ascertain  those  duties,  it  is  obviously 
necessary  that  you  should  understand  well  your  in 
stitutions  and  the  relation  in  which  they  place  you 
towards  society.  I  propose  only  to  take  a  passing 
glance  at  this  subject,  since  the  nature  of  this  dis 
course  will  bear  no  more. 

The  political  phenomenon,  then,  on  which  your 
eyes  have  opened,  is  that  of  a  great  national  govern 
ment,  composed  of  a  confederacy  of  many  states ; 


20 

eacli  of  these  being,  in  itself,  a  separate  sovereignty. 
This  confederacy  extends  from  north  to  south, 
through  several  degrees  of  latitude,  and  stretches 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  states 
which  it  embraces  are  various  in  their  soil  and 
climate,  and  necessarily  various  in  their  productions, 
in  the  pursuits  of  their  citizens,  and  in  their  local 
interests. 

All  these  governments,  both  state  and  federal, 
are  republics :  that  is  to  say,  the  whole  power  is  in 
the  body  of  the  people.  These  governments  all 
belong  to  them,  were  formed  by  them  for  their  own 
good,  and  are  administered  by  officers  chosen  by 
them  and  responsible  to  them.  But  in  order  to 
qualify  the  people  to  enforce  this  responsibility  with 
effect,  it  is  necessary  that  they  should  understand 
well  the  boundaries  which  part  the  powers  of  the 
federal  and  state  governments,  and  that  they  should 
understand,  also,  their  interests,  foreign  and  domes 
tic  ;  since  otherwise,  it  will  be  impossible  for  them 
to  know  whether  those  boundaries  have  been  pro 
perly  respected  by  their  servants,  and  those  interests 
faithfully  and  judiciously  pursued. 

These  institutions  are  beautiful  in  theory,  but 
they  are  complex:  and  the  principal  dangers  which 
environ  them  are  these  :  first,  lest  the  people  should 
not  sufficiently  understand  them,  and,  not  under 
standing  them,  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  corrupt 


,          WIRT'S  ADDRESS.  21 

and  ambitious  leaders,  who  will  contrive  to  make  a 
job  out  of  these  governments  for  themselves,  and, 
by  their  rival  struggles  for  power,  finally  destroy 
both  the  people  and  their  institutions ;  and,  second 
ly,  lest  the  conflicts  of  local  interest  in  this  widely- 
extended  empire,  and  the  collisions  between  so 
many  separate  sovereignties,  operating  at  the  same 
time  over  the  same  territory,  should  produce  a  con 
cussion  which  may  bring  down  the  whole  fabric  in 
ruins  about  your  ears. 

Hence,  it  is  manifest  that  the  success  of  these 
beautiful  institutions  depends  entirely  on  the  illu 
mination,  the  wisdom  and  virtue  of  the  people. 
These  it  is  the  function  of  education  to  impart ;  and 
as  you  are  soon  to  belong  to  the  body  of  the  people, 
in  the  character  either  of  constituent  or  representa 
tive,  you  cannot  but  perceive  that,  if  you  mean  to 
qualify  yourselves  eminently  for  the  discharge  of 
your  public  duties,  and  not  to  become  "  hewers  of 
wood  and  drawers  of  water"  to  the  ambitious,  it 
should  be  your  ardent  and  unwearied  study  now  to 
acquire  all  that  strength  and  power  of  character 
which  may  qualify  you  to  protect  and  defend  your 
institutions,  and  hand  them  down,  unimpaired,  to 
your  posterity. 

From  this  glance  at  the  political  character  of  the 
country,  let  us  pass,  for  a  moment,  to  that  of  the  age, 
for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  how  far  the  dangers 


22  WIRT'S  ADDRESS. 

which  were  to  have  been  apprehended  from  the 
theory  of  our  institutions,  have  been  realized  by 
practice. 

This  is  delicate  ground,  and  I  am  aware  of  the 
impossibility  of  treating  the  subject  with  candor, 
without  exposing  myself  to  illiberal  and  invidious 
criticisms.  But  I  have  undertaken  a  duty  towards 
you,  and,  Avith  Heaven's  assistance,  I  Avill  perform 
it,  honestly.  I  should  not  expect  the  banditti  either 
of  the  desert  or  mountains  to  thank  me  for  warning 

o 

the  traveler  to  arm  in  his  defence.  I  might  expect 
the  gratitude  of  the  traveler  himself;  and  even  if  I 
missed  that,  I  should  have  the  consolation  of  know 
ing  that  I  had  done  my  duty.  You,  gentlemen,  I 
am  sure,  will  not  suppose  me  capable  of  prostituting 
an  occasion  like  this,  to  party-purposes.  I  am  no 
party-man.  I  belong  to  no  party  but  that  of  my 
country  :  to  that  alone  do  I  wish  you  to  belong. 
In  relation  to  those  duties  on  which  you  are  soon 
to  enter,  I  think  it  right  to  give  you  a  political 
sketch  of  the  age ;  and  I  shall  give  it  on  the  histo 
rian's  maxim :  Nc  quid  falsl  audeas,  ne  quid  vcri 
non  audeas  dicere.  My  remarks  will  be  general, 
not  personal.  I  propose  to  describe  the  age,  not 
the  individuals  who  compose  it :  and  if  any  one 
choose  to  make  a  personal  application  of  what  is  in 
tended  to  be  general,  I  can  only  say,  qui  cap  it,  ille 
facit. 


The  first  impulse  which  the  people  have  to  give 
their  institutions,  in  order  to  set  them  in  motion,  is 
by  the  election  of  their  public  officers ;  and  in  such 
a  number  of  republics,  state  and  federal,  in  which 
all  the  officers,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  are 
elective,  these  elections  must  be  continually  ^oiii^ 
on.  Now,  according  to  the  theory  of  our  govern 
ments,  these  elections  are  to  be  made  by  the  people 
themselves,  on  their  own  mere  motion.  They  are, 
of  their  own  accord,  and  by  their  own  option,  to 
call  from  their  own  body  such  of  their  fellow- 
citizens  as  they  deem  best  qualified  by  their  wisdom 
and  virtue  to  serve  them.  We  had  a  beautiful 
example,  a  fine  practical  exposition  of  this  feature 
in  our  government,  in  the  election  of  the  first  Presi 
dent  under  the  federal  constitution.  Gen.  "Washino-- 

o 

ton  did  not  offer  himself.  All  of  you  who  have 
read  the  history  of  his  life,  by  a  man  of  closely 
analogous  character,  must  have  been  struck  by  the 
virtuous  diffidence  with  which  he  shrunk  from  the 
office,  and  the  extreme  difficulty  with  which  it  was 
overcome  by  his  compatriots  throughout  the  Union. 
Seel  tempwa  mutantw  :  The  importunity  is  now 
on  the  other  side  :  and  were  that  illustrious  man 
now  alive  to  witness  the  number  of  competitors, 
and  the  unblushing  importunity  with  which  this 
high  and  fearful  office  is  solicited,  he  might  well 
exclaim  with  Epaminondas,  on  a  similar  occasion, 


24  WIRT'S  ADDRESS. 

(if,  indeed,  lie  could  indulge  in  a  sarcasm  on  any 
occasion,)  "  I  rejoice  that  my  country  has  so  many 
better  men  than  myself."  One  of  the  most  striking 
features  of  the  age  is  this  avidity  for  office.  Every 
man  now  thinks  himself  qualified  for  any  office : 
and 

"  Fools  rush  in,  where  angels  fear  to  tread." 

These  elections  are,  at  once,  our  glory  and  our 
shame :  our  glory  in  theory ;  our  shame  in  practice. 
Heal  merit  is  always  modest  and  retiring.  Such 
was  Washington's.  But  this  is  no  longer  sought 
after.  It  is  only  those  who  impudently  obtrude 
themselves  on  the  public  notice,  and  clamor  for 
their  own  elections,  that  are  deemed  worthy  of  the 
suffrage  of  the  People.  And  at  the  recurrence  of 
these  elections,  and  the  canvass  which  precedes 
them,  what  disgraceful  scenes  do  we  continually 
witness !  What  corrupt  combination  in  some  quar 
ters  ;  what  vile  intrigues  in  others ;  what  slander 
and  falsehood;  what  criminations  and  recrimina 
tions  ;  what  "  fending  and  proving"  throughout  the 
land ;  what  hollow  promises  made  merely  ad  cap- 
tandum ;  what  coarse  and  vulgar  flattery,  and 
wheedling  and  coaxing  of  the  Dear  People  !  And 
the  people  themselves,  who  on  these  occasions 
should  be  everything,  what  have  they  become  ? 
In  some  parts  of  our  country,  literally  nothing ; 
and  the  fatal  leprosy  is  rapidly  spreading  through- 


WIRT'S  ABDBEBS.  25 

out  the  Union.  For  we  learn  from  the  mutual 
accusations  of  the  parties  of  the  day,  (I  speak  of 
them  all,)  that  among  other  devices,  a  kind  of 
electioneering  machinery  is  in  use  in  some  places, 
by  which  the  people  have  become  spell-bound,  and 
taught  to  play  the  part  of  automatons  in  their  own 
elections.  If  these  accusations  be  true,  (and  I  have 
not  seen  them  contradicted,)  the  people,  where  this 
machinery  prevails,  are  no  longer,  in  any  proper 
sense  of  the  term,  free  agents,  but  act  by  a  kind  of 
fatal  necessity ;  and  our  elections  are  not,  in  truth, 
made  by  the  people,  but  by  the  power  of  machine 
ry.  In  those  quarters  of  our  country,  in  order  to 
calculate  the  probability  of  the  election  of  an  indi 
vidual,  the  question  is  no  longer  a  is  he  honest,  is 
he  capable  ?"  but  is  he  a  good  engineer,  with  power 
ful  machinery?  Thus,  instead  of  permitting  the 
people  to  practice  on  the  theory  of  our  constitution, 
by  choosing  for  themselves,  and  of  their  own  accord, 
the  best  and  wisest  of  our  citizens,  they  are  con 
strained  by  a  sort  of  mechanical  duress,  to  choose 
the  ablest  juggler.  And,  as  the  success  of  one  jug 
gler  naturally  invites  the  competition  of  others,  and 
one  patent  machine  is  sure  to  lead  to  rival  discove 
ries,  the  evidences  of  this  species  of  internal  im 
provement  are  multiplying  and  thickening  over  the 
land ;  and,  by  the  time  that  you  come  on  the  stage, 
your  streets  and  highways  will  be  beset  by  political 


26 

mountebanks,  and  your  whole  society  will  be  stun 
ned  and  deafened  by  the  clangor,  or  dismembered 
by  the  violence,  of  this  high-steam  apparatus. 

Such,  gentlemen,  are  the  scenes  which  you  must 
soon  be  called  to  witness,  and  in  which  you  must 
play  your  parts  according  to  your  respective  tastes  ; 
unless  you  shall  be  rescued  from  the  disgrace  by 
some  great  and  glorious  revulsion  of  public  senti 
ment  and  feeling.  But  how  is  such  a  revulsion  to 
be  brought  about?  You  have  no  longer  a  Wash 
ington  :  and  it  is  much  to  be  feared  that  it  would 
require  all  the  magic  of  the  living  man  to  touch 
with  his  wand  this  disgraceful  scene,  and  force  it  to 
vanish.  There  is  another  cause  that  might  produce 
it ;  and  to  this  the  virtuous  part  of  the  community 
look  with  hope,  not  for  themselves,  but  for  you. 
It  is  Education,  which,  by  pouring  on  the  rising 
generation  a  purer  and  a  stronger  light,  by  investing 
them  with  more  energy  of  character,  by  inspiring 
them  with  loftier  conceptions  of  their  own  import 
ance,  and  of  the  honor  and  dignity  of  their  country— 
a  holier  patriotism  may,  at  once,  dispose  and  enable 
them  to  crush  these  spiders  in  their  webs,  and  anni 
hilate  the  whole  train  of  their  sycophants  and  de 
pendents.  Unless  some  such  revolution  shall  take 
place,  the  whole  value  of  your  institutions  is  gone. 
Your  governments  are  no  longer  republics,  but  cor 
rupt  aristocracies.  You  will  degenerate  into  a  mob. 


27 

To  borrow  a  bold  figure  from  a  deceased  patriot, 
your  people  will  become  horses,  "  ready  saddled  and 
bridled,"  to  be  mounted  at  pleasure  by  every  bold 
and  crafty  adventurer  who  chooses  to  boot  and  spur 
himself  for  the- occasion ;  and  you  will  rush  first 
into  anarchy,  and  then — emerge  from  it  in  the  form 
of  a  despotism. 

Besides  this  frightful  jarring  throughout  the  land 
produced  by  the  struggles  of  rival  ambition,  there 
is  another  cause  which  threatens  us  with  a  long  suc 
cession  of  storms :  it  is  the  realization  of  the  other 
danger  which  has  been  already  noted,  as  seated  too 
deeply,  I  fear,  in  the  theory  of  our  institutions  ;  the 
conflict  of  local  interest,  and  the  collisions  between 
the  Federal  and  State  authorities.  These  have 
already  risen  to  such  a  height  as  to  menace,  openly, 
a  rupture  of  the  Union :  and,  indeed,  from  the  sharp 
ness  of  the  conflict,  and  the  increasing  acrimony 
with  which  it  is  maintained,  there  is  too  much 
reason  to  fear  that  the  spirit  of  mutual  concession 
and  forbearance  which  animated  our  fathers,  has 
been  buried  in  their  graves,  and  that  their  children 
will,  in  their  wantonness,  pull  down  the  noble  edi 
fice  which  it  cost  them  so  much  pains  and  anxiety 
to  build  up  for  our  happiness. 

Thus,  gentlemen,  you  perceive  that  your  lot  lias 
been  cast  in  stormy  times :  and  every  political  indi 
cation  warns  you  tha  the  quality  wrhich,  above  all 


28 

others,  you  should  seek  to  cultivate,  is  strength  of 
character:  strength  of  character,  as  displayed  iu 
firmness  of  decision,  and  vigor  of  action. 

If,  gentlemen,  you  were  about  to  embark  in  the 
voyage  of  life  on  a  summer's  sea,  in  a  barge  like  that 
of  Cleopatra,  with  zephyrs  only  to  fan,  and  soft  music 
and  sweet  perfumes  to  breathe  around  you,  I  might 
recommend  it  to  you  to  give  yourselves  up  entirely 
to  the  culture  of  those  bland  and  gentle  accom 
plishments  which  contribute  to  cheer  and  sweeten 
social  intercourse.  But  I  foresee,  distinctly,  that 
you  will  have  to  double  Cape  Horn  in  the  winter 
season,  and  to  grapple  with  the  gigantic  spirit  of 
the  storm  which  guards  that  Cape  ;  and  I  foresee,  as 
distinctly,  that  it  will  depend  entirely  on  your  own 
skill  and  energy  whether  you  will  survive  the  fear 
ful  encounter,  and  live  to  make  a  port  in  the  mild 
latitudes  of  the  Pacific.  Hence  it  is  that  I  recom 
mend  it  to  you  most  strenuously  to  devote  your 
selves,  with  unwearied  zeal,  to  the  cultivation  of 
those  bold  and  manly  qualities  which  are  calcu 
lated  to  bear  you,  fearless  and  triumphant,  through 
the  tierce  contention. 

The  excellence  of  a  character  consists  in  its  fit 
ness  to  the  times  and  the  service  to  be  performed. 
We  are  disgusted  with  effeminacy  in  a  man,  on 
occasions  which  call  for  courage  ;  and  are  shocked 
to  see  him  play  the  trembling  dastard,  or  whining 


WIRT'S  ADDKESS.  29 

sentimentalist,  at  a  moment  when  lie  should  be 
blazing*  in  the  front  of  war.  Thus,  when  we  see 
Henry  the  Vlth,  in  Shakspeare,  retiring  from  the 
battle  on  which  his  crown  and  life  depended,  and, 
seating  himself  pensively  on  the  side  of  a  hill,  hear 
him  exclaim, 

"  O  God  !  I  would  I  were  an  humble  swain. 
To  carve  out  dials  quaintly,  point  by  point, 
Thereby  to  see  the  minutes  how  they  pass — " 

how  painfully  do  we  feel  his  unfitness  for  his  sta 
tion,  and  how  do  we  long  for  that  bold  and  daunt 
less  voice  of  his  father,  which,  at  the  storming  of 
Ilarneur,  cried  out, 

"  Once  more  unto  the  breach,  dear  friends,  once  more  !" 

Gentlemen,  you  will  not  confound  the  firm  and 
strong  character  which  I  am  recommending, 
with  a  turbulent,  factious,  incendiary  spirit.  No 
thing  can  be  more  contrary.  The  blusterer  is 
seldom  brave.  True  courage  is  always  calm, 
and  is  never  so  captivating  as  when  set  off  by 
courtesy.  The  Chevalier  Bayard,  one  of  the 
proudest  ornaments  of  the  age  of  chivalry,  was 
the  flower  of  courtesy,  and  he  was  not  more  with 
out  fear  than  without  reproach.  No,  gentlemen  : 
every  good  man  prefers  peace.  It  is  the  only  con 
dition  that  accords  with  that  brotherly  love  which 
ought  to  prevail  among  men ;  the  only  state  that 
reason  and  humanity  can  approve.  But  it  has 


30 

grown  into  a  maxim,  that  the  Lest  mode  of  pre 
serving   peace  is  to  be  prepared   for  war.     That 
strength  of  character,  which  I  recommend,   is  for 
armor  of  defence,  not  of  offence.     Heaven  forbid 
that  we  should  ever  see  the  war  of  the  Roses  enact 
ed  in  real  life,  in  our  own  land  !     But  if  we  ever 
should,  it  will  proceed    from   that    ignorance,  and 
consequent  imbecility,  on  the  part  of  our  people, 
which  will  surrender  them  as  tools  into  the  hands 
of  ambition,   and   make  them  the  instruments  of 
their   own   destruction.     An   enlightened  commu 
nity,  who  understand  their  rights,  and  possess  the 
skill  and  firmness  to  assert  them,  are  in  no  danger 
from  the   intrigues  of  the   selfish   and   designing. 
Peace   is   lovely.      Those   moral   and   intellectual 
qualities  that  adorn  it,  have   charms  for  a  virtuous 
mind  that  ought  not  to  be  resisted.     But  their  at 
tainment  is  perfectly  compatible  with  the  habitual 
cultivation  of  that  firmness  and   energy  which  are 
the  best,  and,  indeed,  the  only  earthly  guardians  of 
Peace  itself;    and  without  which,  our  altars   and 
firesides  will  be  no  protection  against  the  insidious 
visits  of  unprincipled  and  ruffian  ambition.     What 
I  recommend  to  you,  therefore,  is,  to  endeavor  to 
unite  in  your  characters  the  quiet,  but  determined, 
heroism  of  the  patriot   soldier,  with   that  love   of 
peace  which  becomes  the   Philanthropist  and  the 
Christian. 


31 

Gentlemen,  I  have  hitherto  urged  this  quality 
upon  you  with  reference,  only,  to  your  public  or 
political  duties.  Give  me  leave,  now,  to  add,  that 
decision  of  character  is  as  indispensable  in  private 
as  in  public  life ;  and  that  there  can  be  no  success, 
in  any  walk,  without  it.  Whether  you  are  des 
tined  for  either  of  the  learned  professions,  or  prefer 
the  pursuits  of  agriculture,  commerce,  or  manufac 
tures,  you  will  find  that  you  can  make  no  distin 
guished  progress  in  either,  without  this  bold  and 
manly  quality.  The  man  who  is  perpetually  hesi 
tating  which  of  two  things  he  will  do  first,  will  do 
neither.  The  man  who  resolves,  but  suffers  his 
resolution  to  be  changed  by  the  first  counter  sug 
gestion  of  a  friend,  who  fluctuates  from  opinion  to 
opinion,  from  plan  to  plan,  and  veers,  like  a 
weathercock,  to  every  point  of  the  compass,  with 
every  breeze  of  caprice  that  blows,  can  never  ac 
complish  anything  great  or  useful.  Instead  of  be 
ing  progressive  in  anything,  he  will  be  at  best  sta 
tionary,  and,  more  probably,  retrograde  in  all.  It 
is  only  the  man  who  carries  into  his  pursuits  that 
great  quality  which  Lucan  ascribes  to  Csesar — the 
ne-scia  virtus  stare  loco — who  first  consults  wisely, 
then  resolves  firmly,  and  then  executes  his  purpose 
with  inflexible  perseverance,  undismayed  by  those 
petty  difficulties  which  daunt  a  weaker  spirit,  that 
can  advance  to  eminence  on  any  line.  Let  us  take, 


WIRT'S  ADDRESS. 

hy  way  of  illustration,  the  case  of  a  student.     He 
commences  the  study  of  the  dead  languages  :  pres 
ently  comes  a  friend,  who  tells  him  that  he  is  wast 
ing  his  time,  and  that,  instead  of  learning  obsolete 
words,  he  had  much  better  employ  himself  in  ac 
quiring  new  ideas.     He  changes  his  plan,  and  sets 
to  work  at  the  mathematics.     Then  comes  another 
friend,  who   asks    him,  with  a  grave   and   sapient 
face,  whether  he  intends  to  become  a  professor  in 
a  college,  because  if  he  does  not,  he  is  misemploy 
ing  his  time ;  and  that  for  the  business  of  life,  com 
mon  arithmetic  is  quite  enough  of  the  mathematics. 
He  throws  up  his  Euclid  and  addresses  himself  to 
some  other  study,  which,  in  its  turn,  is  again  relin 
quished    on   some    equally   wise   suggestion;    and 
thus  his  life  is  spent  in  changing  his  plans.     You 
cannot  but  perceive  the  folly  of  this  course  ;  and 
the  worst  effect  of  it  is,  the  fixing  on  a  young  mind 
a  habit  of  indecision,  sufficient  of  itself,  to  blast 
the  fairest   prospects.     ATo,  gentlemen,  take  your 
course    wisely,  but   firmly;  and   having   taken  it, 
hold  upon  it  with  heroic  resolution,  and  the  Alps 
and    Pyrenees   will  sink    before    you.     The  whole 
empire  of  learning  will  lie  at  your  feet,  while  those 
who  set  out  with  you,  but  stopped  to  change  their 
plans,   are    yet   employed   in    the  very   profitable 
business  of  changing  their  plans.     Let  your  motto 
be,  Peraeverando  vlnces.     Practise  upon  it,  and  you 


WIRT'S  ADDKESS.  33 

will  become  convinced  of  its  value,  by  the  distin 
guished  eminence  to  which  it  will  conduct  you. 

Success  in  life  depends  far  more  upon  this  qual 
ity,  than  on  the  possession  of  what  is  called  genius. 
For  decision  of  character  is,  by  no  means,  a  neces 
sary  attendant  upon  genius.  On  the  contrary, 
there  is  frequently  allied  with  it,  a  tender,  and 
even  morbid  sensibility,  which  is  very  apt  to  gene 
rate  indecision,  and  to  plunge  its  victim  into  mel 
ancholy,  despondency,  and  lethargy.  You  will 
meet  with  frequent  instances  in  life,  in  which  this 
bold  and  hardy  quality  will  give  to  an  inferior  mind 
the  command  over  the  superior.  Xay,  you  will  see 
it  among  boys,  and  even  among  girls,  at  school. 
The  leader  of  their  amusements,  and  all  of  their 
little  enterprises — the  individual,  to  whom  all  the 
rest  instinctively  look  to  give  the  word  of  com 
mand,  is  frequently  the  inferior  in  point  of  genius 
to  many  of  those  who  willingly  obey  that  word. 
This  phenomenon  results  entirely  from  superior  de 
cision  of  character.  And  you  may  gather  from 
the  fact  this  useful  lesson,  that  if  you  Avish,  here 
after,  to  have  influence  among  your  neighbors,  you 
must  acquire,  now,  this  commanding  decision  of 
character,  to  which  weaker  spirits  willingly  bow,  and 
find  even  a  relief  in  bowing  to  it,  and  obeying  it. 

Gentlemen,  this  same  quality  will  be  one  of  the 
best  guardians  of  your  virtues.  Why  is  it  that 

3 


\\TKTS 


34 

young  men  are  so  often  drawn  off  from  their  stu 
dies  and  tempted  to  dissipation,  which  their  con 
sciences  condemn  (     It  proceeds  from  indecision  of 
•haracter.      They   have  not   the   firmness   to    sav 

No"  to  an  improper  proposal.  They  yield  to 
the  tempter,  and  they  call  it  good  nature  and  (jood 
fellowship.  And  they  soon  acquire  such  a  habit  of 
yielding,  that  temptation  has  only  to  show  herself, 
in  any  form,  to  be  followed,  though  she  beckon 
them  over  a  precipice.  What  is  the  remedy  for 
this  ruinous  facility  of  temper  ?  Decision  of  char 
acter  :  that  bracing  and  vigorous  decision,  which, 
having  once  taken  the  correct  course,  is  deaf  to  the 
syren  voice  of  the  tempter,  and  blind  to  her 
beauties. 

Thus,  both  in  public  and  in  private  life;  in  the 
learned  and  the  unlearned  professions;  in  scenes  of 
business,  or  in  the  domestic  circle,  the  master  qual 
ity  of  man  is  decision  of  character. 

But  you  will  not  confound  this  decision.-,  of  winch 
i  speak,  either  with  obstinacy,  or  with  rudeness  of 
manners.  Not  with  obstinacy,  because  it  is  the 
character  of  obstinacy  to  persist  in  conscious  error : 
whereas,  it  is  the  character  of  decision  to  renounce 
an  error  the  moment  it  becomes  manifest,  and  to 
renounce  it  with  equal  promptitude  and  firmness. 
But  it  is  not  often  that  a  decided  character  is  put 
to  this  humiliating  change.  Because  the  first  step 


WIRT'S  ADDRESS.  35 

has  not  been  rashly,  but  wisely  and  deliberately 
taken ;  because  having  been  thus  taken,  it  is  not 
the  mere  difficulty  of  the  execution  that  will  in 
duce  a  change ;  for  all  difficulties  yield  to  a  decided 
character ;  and,  because  it  is  only  the  development 
of  after  circumstances,  which  could  not  be  taken 
into  the  first  calculation,  that  demonstrates  the 
error,  and  demands  the  change.  Indecision  is  the 
mere  creature  of  caprice,  "  a  feather  for  every  wind 
that  blows,"  and  is  seen  continually  tossing,  in  dif 
ferent  and  opposite  currents.  Obstinacy  resolves 
ignorantly,  or  rashly,  and  (to  borrow  a  word  Ironi 
Doctor  Johnson)  persists  doggedly  in  error,  against 
the  light  of  its  own  understanding.  Decision  holds 
the  middle  course,  and  is  the  best  earthly  ally  of 
wisdom  and  virtue.  It  is,  indeed,  the  chief  execu 
tive  officer  of  their  high  decrees. 

Nor  will  you  confound  decision  with  rudeness  of 
manners.  There  is  not  the  slightest  connection  be 
tween  them.  Decision  is  calm  and  steady  as  the 
polar  star.  She  must  be  cool  and  dispassionate ; 
for  any  perturbation  would  disturb  her  course. 
Satisfied  with  the  correctness  of  that  course,  she  is 
no  less  serene  than  she  is  intense  ;  and  can  smile  at 
suggestions  that  would  ruffle  into  rudeness  a  char 
acter  less  firm.  We  are  apt  to  consider  rough,  ab 
rupt  and  arrogant  manners  as  the  natural  indica 
tions  of  a  firm  and  decided  character.  Nothing  is 


3G  NVIRTS  ADDKKSS. 

more  fallacious.     These  manners  are  frequently  the 
mere  cover  for  pusillanimity.     Gentlemen,  he  as 
sured,  that  there  is  nothing  graceful,  or  courteous, 
or  fascinating,  in  address  that  is  not  perfectly  com 
patible  with  the  most  manly  firmness,  and  even  the 
best  evidence  of  its  existence.     Nay,  you  find  this 
quality,  frequently,  in  its  highest  perfection  in  the 
softer  sex.     It  is  this  that  carries   them    through 
their  arduous,  and,  frequently,  painful  duties,  with 
such  undeviating  steadiness,  and  enables  them  to 
persist  in  the  lofty  course  of  virtue,  with  a  con 
stancy  and  dignity  which  put  us  often  to  the  blush. 
Yet  this,  quality  does  not  make  them  rude.     ( hi  the 
contrary,  you   find  it  in  company  with  meekness, 
patience,  gentleness,  kindness,  and  frequently  with 
all  that  innocent  gayety  of  heart,  and  spirited  grace 
fulness    of    manner,    which    diffuse    enchantment 
around  them,  wherever  they  go.     With  such  "bright 
and  attractive  examples  before  us,  let  it  never  be 
said,  that  rudeness  is  the  necessary  concomitant  of 
decision  of  character. 

Gentlemen,  I  think  that  you  are,  by  this  time, 
ready  to  admit  the  great  value  of  this  quality,  and 
that  you  wish  to  understand  whether  it  be  an  in 
nate  quality,  which  depends  entirely  on  peculiar 
organization ;  or,  whether  it  be  one  of  those  quali 
ties  that  may  be  acquired  by  discipline  {  Let  us 
attend  for  a  moment  to  these  questions. 


WIRT'ri  ADDKEStS.  37 

If  it  be  a  quality  which  depends  entirely  on  or 
ganization,  it  must  have  been  born  with  us,  or  we 
can  never  possess  it;  and,  on  this  hypothesis,  I 
might  have  spared  both  you  and  myself  the  trou 
ble  of  this  address.  But  this  is  not  the  opinion 
which  I  entertain.  I  admit  that  there  is  a  differ 
ence  in  our  organization,  and  that,  so  far  as  it  de 
pends  on  this  circumstance,  we  do  bring  with  us 
into  the  world  different  degrees  of  this  quality. 
Some  men  are  born  with  firmer  texture  of  muscle, 
with  tougher  sinews  and  stronger  nerves,  and,  may 
be  said  to  be,  constitutionally,  decided  characters. 
But  what,  at  last,  is  this  decision  but  a  modification 
of  courage  ?  and  if  courage  itself  may  be  acquired, 
it  would  seem  to  follow,  by  necessary  consequence, 
that  decision,  which  is  an  emanation  from  it,  may, 
also,  be  acquired.  Now,  as  to  courage,  nature  has 
also  made  a  difference  among  men.  Some  men  are 
constitutionally  brave,  others  timid.  But  we  know 
that  this  natural  timidity  may  be  overcome  by 
moral  considerations,  and  that  courage  may  be 
gained  and  established  by  habit.  Frederick  the 
Great  of  Prussia,  is  said  to  have  fled  with  precipi 
tation  from  his  first  battle,  and  not  to  have  taken 
the  rowels  from  his  horse's  sides  until  he  had  pla 
ced  many  leagues  between  his  enemy  and  himself. 
Yet  this  man  became  the  wonder  of  Europe,  not 
more  by  the  depth  and  combinations  of  his  policy, 


88  WIRT'S  ADDRESS. 

than  coolness  and  iirmness  of  his  personal  valor. 
To  descend  from  great  things  to  small :  we  are 
told  of  an  inferior  officer,  in  our  Revolutionary 
War,  who  was  nicknamed  Captain  Death,  and  who. 
in  that  portion  of  the  army  to  which  he  belonged, 
was  always  singled  out  for  the  most  desperate  en 
terprises.  If  a  forlorn  hope  was  to  be  sent  out,  a 
strong  Lattery  to  be  stormed,  or  any  other  peril 
that  demanded  nerves  of  steel,  this  man  was  always 
selected  to  head  the  adventure  ;  and  yet,  it  was  re 
marked  of  him,  that  he  was  never  called  up  to 
receive  a  proposal  of  this  sort,  that  he  did  not  turn 
as  pale  as  his  namesake,  and  t  re  ruble  from  head  to 
foot.  He  never  tailed,  however,  to  accomplish  the 
purpose,  and,  I  believe,  that  he  went  safe  and  un 
hurt  through  the  war.  But  apart  from  particular 
examples,  which  might  be  easily  multiplied :  which 
of  us,  that  has  ever  looked  long,  with  an  observant 
eye,  on  the  dawning  character  of  childhood,  ha,s 
not  seen  that  a  boy,  naturally  shy,  and  even  cow 
ardly,  may  be  trained  by  erroneous  education  to 
become  a  bull)',  and  to  delight  in  battle  ?  A  better 
discipline  would  have  given  him  all  the  firmness  of 
a  gentleman,  without  the  ferocity  of  the  ruffian. 
Veteran  legions  are  composed  of  men,  some  of 
whom  will  confess  that  in  their  first  engagement, 
they  were  far  more  disposed  to  fly  than  to  fight, 
and  that  nothing  kept  them  in  their  ranks  but 


WIRT'S  ADDEESS.  39 

shame  and  the  fear  of  punishment.  Yet,  by  de 
grees,  they  became  brave,  and  were,  at  length,  as 
calm,  and  even  cheerful,  amid  showers  of  bullets, 
as  when  enjoying  the  festivities  of  their  tents.  In 
short,  although  nature  may  have  denied  this  stabil 
ity  and  stubbornness  of  nerve,  yet  I  entertain  no 
doubt  of  the  power,  I  had  nearly  called  it  the  omnipo 
tence,  of  education  to  overcome  this  infirmity,  and, 
that  both  courage  and  decision  may  be  acquired  by 
well-directed  discipline.  1  am  farther  of  the  opin 
ion,  that  that  which  we  do  so  acquire,  is  of  a  far 
higher  order  than  the  brute  material  which  organ 
ization  gives,  since,  instead  of  being  directed  to  the 
perpetration  of  crimes,  as  is  most  frequently  the 
case  where  it  is  the  mere  effect  of  native  tempera 
ment,  it  will  be  always  guided  by  wisdom  and  vir 
tue  to  the  accomplishment  of  good. 

Assuming  it  now  that  decision  of  character  may 
be  acquired  by  discipline,  what  is  the  best  course  to 
gain  it  ?  I  answer,  the  firm  resolve  of  mind  to  do, 
always  what  is  right,  at  every  peril :  and  the 
knowledge  which  is  necessary  to  direct  our  choice. 

With  regard  to  the  first :  the  man  who  is  so  con 
scious  of  the  rectitude  of  his  intentions,  as  to  be 
willing  -to  open  Ms  bosom  to  the  inspection  of  the 
world,  is  already  in  possession  of  one  of  the  strongest 
pillars  of  a  decided  character.  The  course  of  such 
a  man  will  be  firm  and  steady,  because  he  has  noth- 


40  WIRT'S  ADDRESS. 

ing  to  tear  from  tlie  world,  and  is  sure  of  the  ap 
pro)  >ati on  and  support  of  Heaven  ;  while  the  man, 
who  is  conscious  of  secret  and  dark  designs,  which, 
if  known,  would  "blast  him,  is  perpetually  shrinking 
and  dodging  from  public  observation,  and  is  afraid 
of  all  around,  and  much  more  of  all  above  him. 
Such  a  man  may,  indeed,  pursue  his  iniquitous  plans 
steadily ;  he  may  waste  himself  to  a  skeleton  in  the 
guilty  pursuit ;  but  it  is  impossible  that  he  can  pursue 
them  with  the  same  health-inspiring  confidence,  and 
exulting  alacrity,  with  him  who  feels,  at  every  step, 
that  he  is  in  the  pursuit  of  honest  ends  by  honest 
means.  The  clear,  unclouded  brow,  the  open  coun 
tenance,  the  brilliant  eye  which  can  look  an  honest 
man  steadfastly  yet  courteously  in  the  face,  the 
healthfully  beating  heart,  and  the  firm  elastic  step, 
belong  to  him  whose  bosom  is  free  from  guile,  and 
who  knows  that  all  his  motives  and  purposes  are 
pure  and  right.  Why  should  such  a  man  falter  in 
his  course  '{  He  may  be  slandered  ;  he  may  be  de 
serted  by  the  world  :  but  he  has  that  within  which 
will  keep  him  erect,  and  enable  him  to  move  on 
ward  in  his  course  witli  his  eyes  fixed  on  Heaven, 
which  he  knows  will  not  desert  him. 

Let  your  first  step,  then,  in  that  discipline  which  is 
to  give  you  decision  of  character,  be  the  heroic  de. 
termination  to  be  honest  men,  and  to  preserve  this 
character  through  every  vicissitude  of  fortune,  and 


WIBT'S  ADDRESS.  41 

ill  every  relation  which  connects  yon  with  society. 
I  do  not  use  this  phrase,  "  honest  men,"  in  the  nar 
row  sense,  merely,  of  meeting  your  pecuniary  en 
gagements,  and  paying  your  debts  ;  for  this  the 
common  pride  of  gentlemen  will  constrain  you  to  do. 
I  use  it  in  its  largest  sense  of  discharging  all  your 
duties,  both   public  and  private,  both  open   and 
secret,  with  the  most  scrupulous,  Heaven-attesting 
integrity :  in  that  sense,  farther,  which  drives  from 
the  bosom  all  little,  dark,  crooked,  sordid,  debasing 
considerations  of  self,  and  substitutes  in  their  place 
a  bolder,  loftier,  and  nobler  spirit :  one   that  will 
dispose  you  to  consider  yourselves  as   born,  not  so 
much  for  yourselves  as  for  your  country  and  your  fel 
low-creatures,  and  which  will  lead  you  to  act  on  every 
occasion  sincerely,  justly,  generously,  magnanimous 
ly.     There  is  a  morality  on  a  larger  scale,  perfectly 
consistent  with  a  just  attention  to  your  own  affairs, 
which  it  would  be  the  height  of  folly  to  neglect :  a 
generous  expansion,  a  proud   elevation,  and  con 
scious  greatness  of  character,  which  is  the  best  pre 
paration  for  a  decided  course  in  every  situation  into 
which  you  can  be  thrown ;  and,  it  is  to  this  high 
and  noble  tone  of  character,  that  I  would  have  you 
to  aspire.     I  would  not  have  you  to  resemble  those 
weak  and  meagre  streamlets,  which  lose  their  direc 
tion  at  every  petty  impediment  that  presents  itself, 
and  stop,  and  turn  back,  and   creep  around,  and 


WIR'FS  ADDRESS. 

search  out  every  little  channel  through  which  thev 
may  wind  their  feeble  and  sickly  course.  Xor  yet 
would  I  have  you  to  resemble  the  headlong  torrent 
that  carries  havoc  in  its  mad  career.  But  I  would 
have  you  like  the  ocean,  that  noblest  emblem  of 
majestic  Decision,  which,  in  the  calmest  hour,  still 
heaves  its  restless  might  of  waters  to  the  shore,  fill 
ing  the  Heavens,  day  and  night,  with  the  echoes  of 
its  sublime  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  tossing 
and  sporting,  on  its  bed,  with  an  imperial  con 
sciousness  of  strength  that  laughs  at  opposition. 
It  is  this  depth,  and  weight,  and  power,  and  purity 
of  character,  that  I  would  have  you  to  resemble; 
and  I  would  have  you,  like  the  waters  of  the  ocean, 
to  become  the  purer  by  your  own  action. 

Let  me  illustrate  this  character,  by  supposing  it 
in  a  given  situation,  and  contrasting  it,  with  its  op 
posite,  in  the  same  situation. 

Some  of  you  may  be,  hereafter,  disposed  to  em 
bark  in  a  public  life  :  if  so,  and  you  belong  to  this 
high  order  of  character,  you  will  feel  that  it  would 
be  unjust,  and  therefore  dishonest,  to  propose  your 
selves,  or  permit  yourselves  to  be  proposed  for  any 
office,  to  whose  duties  you  do  not  feel  that  you  aiv 
competent ;  for  you  would  know  that  the  assump 
tion  of  any  office,  is  an  engagement  to  the  public, 
to  whom  the  office  belongs,  to  fulfill  its  duties,  and, 
you  would  undertake  nothing  that  YOU  could  not 


WIRT'S  ADDRESS.  4o 

perform.     You  will,  therefore,  not  consider  what 
office  is  most  desirable  in  itself ;  but  what  is  most 
desirable  with   reference  to  your  capacity  to  dis 
charge  its  duties.     You  will  compare,   not-  superfi 
cially  and  conceitedly,  but  modestly  and  severely, 
your  talents  and  attainments  with  the  whole  range 
of  duties  that  belong  to  the  office  ;  and  you  will 
take  care  to  qualify  yourselves,  eminently,  for  the 
discharge  of  those  duties,  before  you  seek  it   or 
accept  it.     You  will  make  yourselves  masters  of  all 
the  facts,  historical  and  political,  which  stand  con 
nected  with  it.     You  will  invigorate,  by  exercise, 
those  faculties  of  mind  which  must  be  called  into 
exertion  in  the  discharge  of  its  duties.     And,  above 
all,  you  will  raise  yourselves  to  the  high  resolve  to 
go  for  your  country,  and  to  devote  yourselves,  on 
every  occasion,  fearlessly  and  exclusively,  to  her 
honor,  her  happiness,  her  glory.     Your  ambition 
will  be  to  enrol  your  names  among  those  over  whose 
histories  our  hearts  swell,  and  our  eyes  overflow 
with  admiration,  delight  and  sympathy,  from  in 
fancy  to  old  age  ;  and  the  story  of  whose  virtues, 
exploits,  and  sufferings,  will  continue  to  produce  the 
same  effect,  throughout  the  world,  at  whatever  dis 
tance  of  time  they  may  be  read.     It  is  needless,  and 
it  were  endless  to  name  them.     On  the  darker  fir- 
manent  of  history,  ancient  and  modem,  they  form  a 
galaxy  resplendent  with  their   lustre.     To  20  no 


44 

farther  back,  look  for  your  mode]  to  tin-  signers  of 
our  Declaration  of  Independence.  You  see  revived  in 
those  men,  the  spirit  of  Ancient  Rome  in  Rome's  best 
day ;  for  they  were  willing,  with  Curtius,  to  leap  into 
the  flaming  gulf,  which  the  oracle  of  their  own  wisdom 
had  assured  them  could  be  closed  in  no  other  way. 
There  was  one,  however,  whose  name  is  not  among 
those  signers,  but  who  must  not,  nay,  cannot  be  for 
gotten  ;  for,  when  a  great  and  decided  patriot  is  the 
theme,  his  name  is  not  far  off.  Gentlemen,  you 
need  not  go  to  past  ages,  nor  to  distant  countries. 
You  need  not  turn  your  eves  to  ancient  Greece, 
or  Rome,  or  to  modern  Europe.  You  have  in 
your  own  Washington,  a  recent  model,  whom  you 
have  only  to  imitate  to  become  immortal.  Nor, 
must  you  suppose  that  he  owed  his  greatness  to  the 
peculiar  crisis  which  called  out  his  virtues  ;  and 
despair  of  such  another  crisis  for  the  display  of  your 
own.  His  more  than  Roman  virtues,  his  consum 
mate  prudence,  his  powerful  intellect,  and  his  daunt 
less  decision  and  dignity  of  character,  would  have 
made  him  illustrious  in  any  age.  The  crisis  would 
have  done  nothing  for  him,  had  not  his  character 
stood  ready  to  match  it.  Accpvire  his  character, 
and  fear  not  the  recurrence  of  a  crisis  to  show  forth 
its  glory.  Look  at  the  elements  of  commotion  that 
are  already  at  work  in  this  vast  republic,  and 
threatening  us  with  a  moral  earthquake  that  will 


45 

convulse  it  to  its  foundation.     Look  at  the  political 
degeneracy  which  pervades  the  country,  and  which 
has  already  borne  us  so  far  away  from  the  golden 
age  of  the  revolution ;  look  at  all  "  the  signs  of  the 
times,"  and  you  will  see  but  little  cause  to  indulge 
the  hope  that  no  crisis  is  likely  to  recur  to  give  full 
scope  for  the  exertion  of  the  most  heroic  virtues. 
Hence  it  is,  that  I  so  anxiously  hold  up  to  you  the  mo 
del  of  Washington.    Form  yourselves  on  that  noble 
model.     Strive  to  acquire  his  modesty,  his  disinter 
estedness,  his  singleness  of  heart,  his   determined 
devotion  to  his  country,  his  candor  in  deliberation, 
his  accuracy  of  judgment,  his  invincible  firmness  of 
resolve,  and  then  may  you  hope  to  be  in  your  own 
age  what  he  was  in  his,  "  first  in  war,  first  in  peace, 
and  first  in  the  hearts  of  your  countrymen."     Com 
mencing  your  career  with  this  high  strain  of  charac 
ter,  your  course  will  be  as  steady  as  the  needle  to 
the  pole.     Your  end  will  be  always  virtuous,  your 
means  always  noble.     You  will  adorn  as  well  as 
bless  your  country.     You  will  exalt  and  illustrate 
the  age   in  which   you  live.     Your   example  will 
shake,  like   a   tempest,  that   pestilential  pool,  in 
which  the  virtues  of  our  people  are  already  begin 
ning  to  stagnate,  and  restore  the  waters  and  the 
atmosphere   to   their   revolutionary  purity.      The 
young  will  take  you  for  their  bright  exemplar  and 
their  guide :  the  old  will  hail  you  as  the  resurrec- 


46  WIRT'S  ADDRESS. 

tion  of  their  patriot  hopes ;  and  virgins  and  matrons 
will  bless  you,  for  the  benign  influences  you  will 
shed  on  the  happiness  of  society. 

Now  reverse  the  picture.  Suppose  you  take  for 
your  model  those  little  men,  who  sometimes  gain, 
by  their  cunning,  a  momentary  ascendency.  You 
will  learn  from  them,  that  real  virtue,  and  patriot 
ism,  are  the  mere  creations  of  a  Utopian  brain :  and 
that,  although  it  may  be  very  well  to  have  the  words 
often  on  your  lips,  it  would  be  folly  and  madness, 
in  the  extreme  of  Quixotism,  to  have  the  thinc/s  in 
your  hearts.  That  your  business  iS*to  act,  always 
coolly  from  the  head,  never  from  the  heart.  That 
you  must  take  care  to  steel  your  nerves  against  the 
approach  of  sensibility,  and  keep  the  hearts  in  your 
bosoms  as  cold  and  as  hard  MS  adamant,  lest  you 
should  be  surprised  into  some  genuine  touch  of 
sympathy,  or  some  compunctious  visiting  of  con 
science,  which  may  throw  you  off  your  guard,  and 
unhinge  all  your  plans.  These  men  will  teach  you,  by 
their  example,  whatever  they  may  profess  to  the 
contrary,  that  every  man  is  born  tor  himself,  and 
for  himself  only,  and  that,  with  regard  'to  your 
country,  you  are  to  think  of  it,  as  Shakspeare's 
Pistol  did  of  the  world — "this  world's  mine  oyster, 
which  I  with  sword  will  open.'1  In  pursuance  of 
this  selfish  philosophy,  they  will  teach  you  that  the 
bonnm  of  life  is  your  own  political  ad- 


WIRT'S  ADDRESS.  47 

vancement,  and  that  this  holy  end  will  sanctify  all 
the  means  you  may  think  proper  to  adopt  for  its 
accomplishment.  They  will  instruct  you  that  all 
other  men  were  made. for  your  use,  and  will  tell 
you,  with  Jugurtha,  and  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  that 
all  men  may  be  bribed,  in  some  form  or  other: 
either  in  the  form  of  money,  or  office,  or  promise  ; 
that,  by  skillful  management,  you  may  form  and 
discipline  around  yourselves,  such  a  band  of  de 
voted  adherents,  and  give  them  such  a  location 
throughout  the  community,  that  by  touching  the 
spring  nearest  to  you,  you  may  set  the  whole  ma 
chine,  at  once,  into  motion,  and  work  it  to  your 
ends.  That  you  must  create  as  many  alliances  of 
interest  as  you  can,  throughout  the  community,  and 
spread  your  web  for  rapid  and  extensive  effect. 
That  informing  these  alliances,  you  are  not  to  consider 
the  respectability  of  the  individual,  but  his  fitness 
for  your  purposes.  That  ambition,  like  misfortune, 
must  make  us  acquainted  with  strange  bed-fellows  : 
and,  that,  as  your  whole  life  is  perfidy  and  treason 
against  society,  it  would  be  foolishly  nice  and  fas 
tidious  to  object,  either  to  the  company  or  the  ser 
vices  of  a  Judas  Iscariot. 

O,  gentlemen,  there  is  that  inordinate  ambition 
that  makes  the  soul  of  an  honest  man  sick  but  to 
contemplate  it !  You  may  talk  of  the  corrupting 
power  of  avarice ;  but  there  is  no  such  deadly  and 


48  WIRT'S  ADDRESS. 

desolating  corrupter  as  ill-governed  ambition.  How 
often  do  we  see  those  whom  the  Almighty  had,  in 
his  mercy,  formed  to  bless  and  honor  their  race, 
leap  from  this  noble  eminence  to  plunge  and  wallow 
in  the  mire  of  ambition  !  Who  can  look  upon  such 
a  wreck  without  a  sinking  heart  ?  Who  can  look 
upon  that  eye,  in  which  the  fire  of  every  generous 
virtue  once  burned  strong  and  bright :  on  that  proud 
brow,  on  which  Heaven  had  written  only  deeds 
of  high  emprise,  and  behold  the  one,  blenched  with 
conscious  shame ;  the  other,  fallen,  and  furrowed,  and 
haggard  with  guilt,  without  being  disposed  to  utter 
curses  on  that  ambition  which  had  wrought  this 
work  of  horror?  Gentlemen,  beware  of  ambition  ; 
or  rather  beware  of  that  virulent  ambition,  which 
begins  and  ends  in  self,  and  consumes,  like  a  cancer, 
all  the  virtues  of  the  heart.  If  popularity  have 
charms  for  you,  cultivate  a  taste  for  that  popularity 
only  which  follows  virtuous  deeds,  and  whose  laurels 
will  flourish  in  immortal  green ;  and  despise  that 
poor  ephemeral  notoriety,  (for  it  deserves  no  better 
name,)  which  is  gained  by  base  compliances  with  a 
vicious  age ;  which  is  run  after,  and  fished  for,  by 
cunning  appeals  to  the  prejudices  of  the  moment ; 
by  the  affected  adoption  and  flattery  of  vulgar 
errors,  which,  in  your  hearts,  you  despise,  by  diffus 
ing  error  and  corruption  among  the  people  them 
selves,  and  thus  poisoning  the  whole  republic,  in  its 


WIRT'S  ADDRESS.  49 

fountain-head.  Despising  all  parties  for  men,  with 
the  whole  tissue  of  their  depraved  and  despicable 
works,  be  it  your  ambition  to  be  purely  and  greatly 
useful,  and  to  live  for  your  country.  In  a  word,  let 
your  ambition  be  that  of  Washington;  the  only 
kind  of  ambition  that  can  benefit  the  public,  or  find 
a  welcome  in  an  honest  heart. 

But  let  us  pass  from  this  agitating  view  of  the 
subject,  to  one  more  tranquil.     Many  of  you  will, 
probably,  devote  yourselves  to  professional,  or  still 
more,  private  pursuits.    In  all  of  them  you  will  find 
the  necessity  of  that  masculine  quality  which  is  the 
chief  subject  of  my  address ;  and  in  all  you  will  find 
that  the  firmest  basis  of  this  quality,  is   that  pure 
good  faith  which  I   distinguish   by   the   name  of 
honesty.     Do  good  to  all  men.     Do  harm  to  none. 
Cultivate  peace  and  charity  with  all  around  you,  so 
far  as  it  can  be  done  without  giving  countenance  to 
their  vices.     Repress  vice,  both  public  and  private, 
by  your  precept  and  example.     Show  the  world,  in 
your  own  lives,  the  beauty  of  virtue.     Pursue  your 
own  calling,  whatever  it  may  be,  kindly  and  frater 
nally  towards  your  competitors  ;  justly  and  honor 
ably  towards  all  men :  but  with  inflexible  decision, 
with   invincible    perseverance.     Throw    indolence 
behind  you  with  one  hand,  and  dissipation  with  the 
other ;   press  forward  steadily,  calmly,  vigorously, 
always  tasking  your  powers  to  their  utmost  strength, 

4 


50 

and  resolved,  so  far  as  depends  on  yourselves,  to 
reach  the  highest  point  of  which  yon  are  capable. 
The  ancients  have  told  you,  that  if  yon  wish  to  live 
after  death,  yon  must  die  while  yon  live.  Von 
must  die,  at  least,  to  the  world  of  sensual  indulgence 
and  voluptuous  idleness.  Yon  must  dedicate  your 
lionrs,  Avhether  solitary  or  social,  to  the  develop 
ment  and  invigoration  of  your  intellectual  faculties, 
and  to  the  industrious  cultivation  and  expansion  of 
those  moral  qualities,  which  may  enthrone  yon 
justly  in  the  hearts  of  your  countrymen,  and  enable 
you,  by  and  by,  to  read  your  history  in  a  nation's 
eyes.  Pursue  this  course,  and  your  success  in  life 
is  almost  certain.  You  will  become  useful  citizens, 
and,  so  far  as  may  be  compatible  with  this  state  of 
things,  you  will  become  happy  men.  But,  by  the 
way  of  final  warning  on  this  head,  take  no  short 
cuts  either  to  wealth  or  fame.  N^efestimt-s  hcuplc- 
tarl ;  ne.  festinas  (jlorifaat'i.  Beware  of  avarice, 
whose  bosom  friend  is  knavery;  and  of  that 

"  Vaulting  ambition  that  o'erleaps  itself. 
And  falls  on  the  other  side.'' 

Gentlemen,  I  have  said  that  the  discipline,  which 
is  to  give  yon  decision  of  character,  is  to  be  directed, 
first,  to  the  tirm  re.so.lve  to  do,  always,  what  is  right, 
at  every  peril  ;  and,  secondly,  to  the  knowledge 
which  is  necessary  to  direct  vour  choice.  Of  the 


51 

first  I  have  spoken ;  permit  me,  now,  to  call  your  at 
tention  to  the  last. 

Our  knowledge  is  a  compound  of  what  we  derive 
from  books,  and  what  we  extract,  by  our  own  ob 
servation,  from  the  living  world  around  us.  Both 
of  these  are  necessary  to  a  well-informed  man :  and, 
of  the  two,  the  last  is,  by  far,  the  most  useful  for 
the  practical  purposes  of  life.  You  all  know  that 
the  mere  cloistered  scholar  is  one  of  the  most  im 
potent  and  helpless  of  beings,  when  called  to  actual 
scenes  of  business.  The  worms,  that  feed  on  his 
books,  are  scarcely  more  imbecile.  Whereas,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  man  who  is  wholly  unlettered, 
but  who  has  been  from  his  childhood  a  keen  and 
vigilant  observer  of  what  is  passing  around  him, 
will  acquire  a  sagacity  and  a  tact  that  will 
make  him  a  shrewd  and  dexterous  manager  of 
his  own  affairs,  and  often,  a  useful  adviser  to  his 
neighbors.  But,  he  will  be  exceedingly  apt  to  be  a 
cunning  man,  rather  than  a  wise  one ;  and  he  will 
be  a  prodigy,  indeed,  if  he  possess  much  of  that 
liberality  and  elevation  which  literature  is  so  emi 
nently  fitted  to  give.  It  is  only  the  man  who  com 
bines  the  teaching  of  books,  with  the  strong  and 
close  observation  of  life,  that  deserves  the  name  of 
a  well-informed  man,  and  presents  a  model  worthy  of 
your  imitation.  Such  were  Oxenstiern  of  Sweden, 
Xirneues  of  Spain,  Sully  of  France,  and  Cecil,  Lord 


•~>2  WIRT'S  ADDRESS. 

Burleigh,  of  England.  Such  have  been  the  most 
distinguished  men  of  your  own  country ;  and  such 
is  every  man  who  is  at  once  the  scholar  and  the 
man  of  business. 

But,  both  the  acquisition  of  solid  learning,  and 
the  sagacious  observation  of  lite,  demand  a  clear  and 
sound  judgment.  This  is,  indeed,  an  indispensable 
ingredient  in  that  strength  of  character,  which  is 
certainly  to  tix  your  grade  in  society.  Hence, 
gentlemen,  it  is  to  the  cultivation  of  a  sound  judg 
ment  that  you  must  direct  your  chief  mental  efforts. 
Young  men  are  exceedingly  apt  to  make  a  sad  mis 
take  on  this  subject.  Hand  inexpert  us  loquor.  There 
is  a  pleasure  in  the  indulgence  of  the  lighter  facul 
ties,  fancy,  imagination,  wit — and  there  is  an  admi 
ration  which  follows  their  successful  display,  which 
youthful  vanity  can,  with  difficulty,  resist.  But, 
throw  this  brilliant  youth  into  the  same  arena  with 
an  antagonist  who  has  gone  for  strength  of  mind, 
and  whose  reason  and  judgment  have  been  the  chief 
objects  of  discipline,  and  you  will  soon  see  the 
sparkling  diamond  reduced  to  carbon  and  pounded 
to  dust.  The  genius,  himself,  if  he  possess  any 
stamina,  will  speedily  discover  that,  if  he  does  not 
mean  to  "be  "  set  down  an  as-s"  or,  at  the  best,  a 
splendid  trifler,  of  but  little  account,  he  must 
change4  his  batten',  and  learn  to  load  with  ball,  in 
stead,  of  Wank  cartridge.  I  give  you  this  warning, 


53 

that  you  may  not  waste  your  time  in  this  marching- 
and  countermarching*  of  your  minds,  but,  that  you 
may  take  the  true  direction  at  once,  and  hold  it 
with  undeviating-  constancy.  I  do  not  mean  that, 
if  you  possess  wit  and  fancy,  you  should  seek  to 
extinguish  them ;  because  they  are  often  useful 
auxiliaries  to  the  strongest  reasoner.  But  I  do 
mean  that  you  should  not  mistake  the  auxiliary  for 
the  principal ;  ornamental  qualities  for  business 
qualities  ;  and  waste  on  their  culture  that  precious 
time,  which  should  be  given  to  the  discipline  of 
higher  faculties. 

My  advice  to  you,  then,  is,  to  make  your  reason 
and  judgment  the  primary  objects  of  your  atten 
tion.  All  the  studies  that  will  be  offered  to  you 
here,  will  have  a  bearing,  more  or  less,  on  these 
faculties,  because  they  will  all  go  to  increase  your 
general  stock  of  knowledge,  the  materials  on- which 
reason  and  judgment  work,  and  the  armor  with 
which  they  fig-lit ;  and,  because,  in  the  acquisition 
of  any  one  of  them,  reason  and  judgment  must  be, 
in  some  degree,  exerted.  Even  in  Bettes-Letfrres, 
the  lightest  and  most  dangerous,  because  the  most 
fascinating  of  them  all,  you  are  compelled  at  every 
step  to  compare  and  to  prefer  ;  which  is,  at  once,  the 
exercise  both  of  reason  and  judgment.  Besides, 
throughout  the  whole  empire  of  human  knowledge, 
there  are  certain  curious  analogies,  which  are  of 


WIKT'S  ADDRESS. 


great  use,  not  only  to  the  writer  and  speaker,  but 
to  the  thinker,  with  a  mere  view  to  private  judg 
ment  ;  and,  consequently,  the  more  you  enlarge 
your  stock  of  knowledge,  the  more  do  you  increase 
those  stores  of  analogy  and  illustration,  which  con 
stitute  an  essential  part  of  your  strength.  Old- 
fashioned  economists  will  tell  you  never  to  pass  an 
old  nail,  or  an  old  horse-shoe,  or  buckle,  or  even  a 
pin,  without  taking  it  up  ;  because,  although  you 
may  not  want  it  now,  you  will  find  a  use  for  it,  some 
time  or  other.  I  say  the  same  thing  to  you  with 
regard  to  knowledge.  However  useless  it  may  ap 
pear  to  you  at  the  moment,  seize  upon  all  that  is 
fairly  within  your  reach.  For  there  is  not  a  fact 
within  the  whole  circle  of  human  observation,  nor 
even  a  fugitive  anecdote  that  you  read  in  a  news 
paper,  or  hear  in  conversation,  that  will  not  come 
into  play  some  time  or  other  ;  and  occasions  will 
arise  when  they  will,  involuntarily,  present  their 
dim  shadows  in  the  train  of  your  thinkino-  ami 

t/  O 

reasoning,  as  "belonging  to  that  train,  and  you  will 
regret  that  you  cannot  recall  them  more  distinctly. 
But,  while  this  is  true  of  knowledge  in  general, 
tli  ere  are  certain  branches  of  education  which  are 
better  fitted  than  others  to  strengthen  your  reason 
and  clear  your  judgment  ;  and,  among  the  initia 
tory  studies  in  use  in  our  grammar  schools,  the  best 
of  them,  in  my  opinion,  is  that  on  which  we  are 


55 

commonly  first  put,  the  study  of  the  Latin  lan 
guage.  It  is  a  superficial  error  to  consider  it  as  a 
mere  exercise  of  memory.  It  is  one  of  the  best 
exercises  of  youthful  reason  and  judgment.  I 
speak  of  it  as  it  used  to  be  taught,  not  being  famil 
iar  with  any  modern  innovations  which  may  have 
taken  place.  The  application  of  the  rules  of  syn 
tax,  in  parsing  this  language,  is  a  continual  exertion 
of  reason  and  judgment.  The  fundamental  rules 
are,  indeed,  not  very  numerous ;  but  the  qualifica 
tions  and  exceptions  to  them  are  almost  infinite, 
and,  to  apply  them  promptly  and  correctly,  in  every 
case,  demands  an  acuteness  of  discrimination, 
which  compels  the  pupil  to  become  a  strict  and 
severe  reasoner,  and  a  sound  judge. 

Again :  the  disentanglement  of  an  involved  sen 
tence,  under  the  guidance  of  those  rules  of  concord 
and  government,  so  as  to  render  the  sense  neatly 
and  clearly,  is  another  beautiful  exercise  of  reason 
and  judgment.  And,  from  the  mass  of  synonymes 
which  belong  to  both  languages,  the  selection  of 
the  English  word,  which  hits,  w^ith  precision,  the 
exact  shade  of  the  Latin,  is  another  fine  exercise, 
not  only  of  reason  and  judgment,  but  of  that 
subtile  modification  of  them,  which  constitutes 
taste. 

I  am  speaking  of  this  language,  merely,  as  a  dis 
cipline  of  reason  and  judgment.     I  may  add,  that  it 


5$  WIRT'S  ADDRESS. 

is  eminently  instructive,  also,  as  to  the  best  dress 
in  which  reason  can  appear.  For  there  is  a  deli 
cate  and  felicitous  precision  in  this  language,  which 
gives  out  the  idea  with  unrivalled  clearness  and 
beauty.  The  man  who  has  acquired  a  decided 
taste  for  this  language,  and  reads  it,  con  amore,  in 
its  best  authors,  will,  imperceptibly,  imbibe  from 
it  a  spirit  of  accuracy  and  elegance  combined,  that 
will  render  it  difficult  for  him  to  express  himself 
either  coarsely  or  obscurely.  He  will  be  contented 
with  no  form  of  expression  which  will  not  enucle 
ate  the  thought  neatly,  distinctly,  and  beautifully. 
The  Greek  is  still  more  simple,  and  severely  chaste, 
and  has  an  energy  and  majesty  better  fitted  for  the 
sublime.  But  we  are  now  on  the  discipline,  merely, 
of  reason  and  judgment ;  and,  although  I  am 
aware  that  some  distinguished  men  have  spoken 
lightly  of  the  dead  languages,  as  of  little  or  no  use, 
yet,  I  must  be  permitted  to  speak  of  the  market 
as  my  own  fares  and  that  of  my  neigh bors  have 
gone  in  it ;  and,  thus  speaking,  I  have  no  hesita 
tion  in  advancing  the  opinion,  that  the  radical  ac 
quisition  of  the  dead  languages  is  one  of  the  finest 
intellectual  gymnasiums,  in  which  the  reason  and 
judgment  of  a  young  person  can  be  trained. 

Passing  to  later  studies,  mathematics  claims  the 
precedence.  It  is  in  this  severe  science  that  reason 
and  judgment  find  their  most  masculine  employ- 


WIKT'S  ADDRESS.  57 

meiit.  It  is  in  this  that  we  leani  to  look  through 
a  series  of  naked  and  connected  propositions,  to  a 
certain  conclusion.  It  is  in  this  that  we  learn  to 
perceive,  with  accuracy,  the  strict  dependence  of 
proposition  upon  proposition,  to  combine  them 
with  strength,  and  to  walk,  on  a  right  line,  to  the 
unerring  result.  Every  man  perceives,  therefore, 
and  admits  at  once,  the  inestimable  value  of  this 
science,  as  a  discipline  of  reason  and  judgment. 

But,  I  must  warn  you  of  the  clanger  of  becoming 
so  enamored  of  your  mathematics,  as  to  carry  them 
on  every  occasion  into  the  business  of  life.  For 
moral  truth  does  not  admit  of  mathematical  demon 
stration,  and,  to  attempt  it,  would  be  to  torture 
and  lop  truth  on  the  bed  of  Procrustes.  I  knew 
once  an  astronomer,  who  was  also  a  legislator,  a 
learned  and  amiable  gentleman,  and,  for  many 
years,  the  chairman  of  the  committee  of  finance  in 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  state.  It  was  the 
constant  effort  of  that  gentleman's  mind,  to  bring 
his  favorite  science  of  mathematics  to  bear  on  his 
legislative  duties,  and  to  make  Euclidian  demon 
strations  in  political  economy.  But,  he  met  with 
the  fate  of  the  traveling  tutor,  in  one  of  Smollett's 
novels,  who  attempted  to  reclaim  a  libertine  pupil 
by  demonstrating  to  him,  on  the  principles  of  plane 
trigonometry,  the  existence  of  a  future  state  of  re 
wards  and  punishment ;  he  produced  only  a  laugh, 


58 

when,  in  the  simplicity  of  his  heart,  he  looked  con 
fidently  for  conviction. 

The  business  of  life  is  conversant  with  moral 
truth,  which  admits  no  nearer  approach  than  that 
of  high  probability,  and  cannot  be  subjected  to 
rigorous  demonstration.  You  must  learn,  there 
fore,  to  reason  well  for  the  business  of  life.  To  ac 
complish  this,  I  know  of  no  better  method  of  dis 
cipline,  than  to  read  critically  the  works,  and  listen 
to  the  arguments  of  those  who  are  most  distin 
guished  for  the  power  of  reasoning.  As,  for  ex 
ample,  among  the  writers,  Bacon,  Hooker,  Sidney, 
Locke,  and  a  host  of  others,  to  whom  their  fame 
will,  by  and  by,  direct  you.  Mr.  Locke  recom 
mends  Chillingworth  as  a  master  teacher  in  the  art. 
of  moral  reasoning;  but  Mr.  Locke  himself  is,  in 
my  opinion,  greatly  the  superior  of  the  two ;  and  I 
beg  leave  to  recommend  to  you,  in  an  especial 
manner,  as  immediately  connected  with  this  subject, 
and  as  supplying  the  imperfections  of  this  sketch, 
his  masterly  treatise  cc  On  the  Conduct  of  the  Under 
standing."  Among  other  golden  rules,  which  la- 
gives  us  in  that  work,  for  the  guidance  of  our  rea 
son,  there  is  one  to  which  1  cannot  forbear  calling 
your  attention ;  because  I  have  observed  that  the 
neglect  of  it,  is  one  of  the  most  frequent  causes  of 
failure  in  our  reasonings.  Man,  he  observes,  is  a 
being  of  limited  faculties,  and  from  the  indolence  and 


WIRT'S  ADDRESS.  59 

impatience  which  are  natural  to  him,  he  is  very  apt 
to  take  short  views  of  subjects,  and  to  rest  his  con 
clusions  on  the  few  facts  which  lie  immediately 
within  his  reach,  regardless  of  those  that  are  far 
ther  off,  but  which  must  be  taken  into  the  account, 
if  he  would  avoid  error.  This  rule  is,  never  to 
precipitate  your  conclusion  by  an  indolent  or 
hasty  view,  but  to  look  far  and  wide  around  you, 
with  a  scrutinizing  inspection,  and  to  be  sure  that 
nothing  has  escaped  you  which  belongs  to  the  just 
consideration  of  your  subject.  You  are  not  to  look 
at  one  side  only  of  the  case,  on  which,  perhaps,  your 
prepossessions  lie ;  but  to  dismiss  all  prepossessions, 
and  to  examine  both  sides  with  equal  candor  and 
fullness ;  and,  in  order  that  you  may  do  so,  you  are 
to  imagine  yourself  the  advocate  first  of  one  side, 
and  then  of  the  other.  It  is  only  by  thus  stating 
the  account,  fully  and  fairly,  on  both  sides,  without 
the  omission  of  a  single  unit  that  belongs  to  either, 
that  you  will  be  able  to  ascertain  on  which  side  the 
balance  stands.  This  is  what  Mr.  Jefferson  calls 
u  seeing  the  whole  ground  ;"  and  what  Mr.  Locke 
himself  has  called,  "  large,  -sound,  round-about 
vense :"  the  only  kind  of  sense  worth  the  posses 
sion,  either  for  the  great  or  smaller  concerns  of 
life. 

This  comprehensiveness  of  mind  is  to  be  acquired 
by  discipline;  and,  if  nature  has   not   altogether 


60  WIRT'S  ADDRESS. 

denied  the  germ,  it  is  inconceivable  to  what  an  ex 
tent  it  may  be  expanded  by  culture.  With  this 
view,  one  of  the  best  exercises  is  to  study,  with  ar 
dent  and  intense  curiosity,  the  operations  of  other 
minds,  particularly  of  those  which  have  been  dis 
tinguished  for  extent  and  power.  By  observing 
the  strength  with  which  they  grasp  their  subject, 
the  vigor  with  which  they  traverse  the  whole  field 
of  inquiry,  and  the  energy  and  skill  with  which 
they  winnow  the  chaff  from  the  grain,  your  own 
mind  will  take  the  impulse  from  theirs,  until  the 
momentum  becomes  habitually  established.  You 
can  no  longer  trifle  with  any  subject  that  you  take 
in  hand.  You  will  go  to  work  with  the  determin 
ation  "  to  think  it  out"  if  I  may  borrow  a  phrase 
from  a  living  giant ;  and,  delenda  est  Carthago,  will 
l)e  your  war-cry  in  every  assault. 

In  this  discipline,  the  rival  theories  of  eminent 
metaphysicians  is  a  good  study.  I  speak  of  it  as  a 
mere  exercise  of  reason.  One  can  feel  no  great  con-' 
fidence  in  the  theories  of  these  gentlemen,  which 
are  continually  supplanting  each  other,  without  giv 
ing  us  any  new  foothold  that  promises  greater  se 
curity  than  the  last.  They  have  reduced  their 
battle-field  to  a  perfect  Golgotha,  a  place  of  skulls  ; 
and  the  last  victor  of  the  moment  can  only  stand 
till  another  champion  shall  make  his  entry,  to  send 
him  after  his  predecessors,  and  then  to  follow  in 


WIRT'S  ADDRESS.  61 

his  turn.  Their  works,  nevertheless,  present  a  good 
study.  They  will  teach  you  the  valuable  habit  of 
self-observation  ;  and  show  you  how  the  mind  can 
turn  in  upon  itself,  and  expatiate  among  its  own 
powers.  Their  adversary  discussions  will  impress 
you  with  the  importance  of  taking  into  the  account 
all  the  facts  which  belong  to  any  disquisition ;  and 
they  will  instruct  and  discipline  you,  by  the  vigor 
and  address  with  which  they  push  their  argu 
ments. 

But  this  science,  too,  is  not  without  danger  as 
applied  to  the  practical  business  of  life.  In  this 
case,  the  danger  is  a  propensity  to  over-refinement 
and  subtilty.  The  man  who  has  imbibed  too 
much  of  the  spirit  of  metaphysics,  is  seldom  a 
prompt  and  able  tactician,  either  in  public  or  pri 
vate  affairs.  In  thinking,  speaking,  or  acting,  we 
must  move  forward  with  strong  and  bold  steps. 
But  the  metaphysician  hangs  upon  his  point,  until 
he  has  refined  it  to  death,  and  his  adversary  has 
gained  the  goal,  before  he  has  fairly  started. 

Again  :  I  have  already  suggested  it  as  the  duty 
of  you  all,  as  American  citizens,  whatever  may  be 
your  destination  in  life,  to  understand  well  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States  :  and  it  happens 
that  in  connection  with  this  study,  and  in  exposi 
tion  of  the  instrument,  there  are,  within  your  reach, 
several  works  which  are  among  the  finest  models 


62  WIRT'S  ADDRESS. 

of  comprehensiveness  and  cogency  of  argument, 
that  any  country,  in  any  age,  has  presented  to  the 
admiration  and  respect  of  the  world.  I  allude  to 
the  justly-celebrated  essays  of  the  Federalist,  and 
to  the  constitutional  opinions  of  Chief  Justice  Mar 
shall,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
These  are  the  works  of  giant  minds,  and  it  is  im 
possible  to  peruse  them  without  being  filled  with 
wonder  at  the  force  of  the  human  understanding, 
and  touched  with  a  generous  desire  to  emulate 
these  achievements. 

These  works  have  another  great  advantage  for 
those  who  aspire  to  the  study  and  practice  of  elo 
quence.  They  give  you  the  finest  models  of  the 
nervous  and  the  manly,  and  will  teach  you  to  des 
pise  the  worthless  tinsel  with  which  young  minds 
are  apt  to  be  caught  and  dazzled.  They  will  teach 
you  to  think  strongly,  which  should  be  your  first 
object:  and  to  express  your  thoughts  clearly  and 
forcibly,  which  completes  the  croAvn  of  intellectual 
greatness.  Some  of  the  numbers  of  the  Federal 
ist  are  illumined  with  the  finest  touches  of  beaut}'. 
But  the  flowers  are  never  sought  for ;  they  spring- 
up,  fresh  and  spontaneous,  in  the  track  of  thought, 
never  encumbering,  but  always  relieving  and  illus 
trating  the  course  of  the  argument,  and  manifestly, 
starting,  in  the  chasteness  of  their  beauty,  from  a 
mind  heated  by  its  action  on  the  principal  theme. 


63 

Gentlemen,  you  must  not  despair  of  reaching  the 
eminence  on  which  these  great  men  stand,  because 
you  cannot  gain  it  by  a  single  step.  They  gained 
it,  as  you  must  do,  by  toiling  up  the  steep, 
gradating  and  with  efforts  that  were  frequently 
foiled,  before  their  success  became  complete.  Om- 
nla  vlncit  labor.  Exert  yourselves  no\\',  in  propor 
tion  to  your  strength,  and  you  will  find  your 
strength  to  increase  by  every  new  exertion. 
Feret  taurum  qid  tulit  vitulum.  Lift  the  calf  every 
day,  and  you  will,  by  and  by,  be  able,  like  Milo,  to 
shoulder  him  when  grown  to  an  ox. 

Gentlemen,  the  subject  of  education  is  inexhaust 
ible.  As  long  as  I  have  detained  you,  I  have  yet 
done  little  more  than  to  touch  a  few  of  its  more 
prominent  heads.  These  hints  (for  they  deserve 
no  better  name)  are  not  intended  to  be  limited  to 
the  time  you  will  employ  here.  They  look  farther. 
They  look  to  the  time  after  you  shall  have  left  col 
lege  ;  and  their  chief  design  is  to  recommend  the 
tone  and  complexion  of  character  which  you  should 
labor  to  acquire,  and  support,  with  dignified  consis 
tency,  through  life.  You  do  not,  I  hope,  suppose 
that  what  you  are  to  gain  here  is  to  constitute  the 
whole  of  your  education.  If  you  do,  you  have 
taken  a  most  erroneous  view  of  the  subject.  This 
is  the  mere  cradle,  at  best,  the  nursery  of  educa 
tion.  You  learn  to  walk  here  ;  but  it  is  not  until 


04  WIRT'S  ADDRESS. 

you  shall  have  taken  your  place  in  the  ranks  of  life, 
that  you  will  learn  to  march,  with  the  firm  and 
well-measured  step  of  the  soldier.  You  will  lay 
the  foundation  and  acquire  the  rudiments  of  edu 
cation  here ;  you  will  acquire,  too,  I  hope,  those 
habits  of  systematic  application,  which  are  to  ope 
rate  through  life ;  and  you  will,  here,  give  that  just 
direction  to  your  moral  and  intellectual  character, 
which  it  will  be  your  passion  to  sustain  till  the  hour 
of  your  deaths.  But  if  your  ambition  be  not  that 
of  an  ephemeron,  your  whole  life  will  be  one  of 
arduous  study,  and  of  progressive  improvement, 
and  enlargement.  Your  first  step  from  the  walls 
of  the  college  will  usher  you  on  the  stage  of  the 
world,  where  you  will  have  it  in  your  power  to 
correct  the  theories  of  your  books,  by  the  close  and 
constant  inspection  of  actual  life.  It  is  on  that 
theatre  that  we  are  to  learn  the  use  which  you  will 
have  made  of  your  time  here.  It  will  be  in  vain 
to  show  us  your  diplomas.  We  shall  require  higher 
evidence.  Show  us  pure  and  steady  habits  ;  high- 
souled  principles,  and  solid  learning.  Show  us 
strength  of  character,  as  displayed  in  firmness  of 
decision,  and  vigor  of  action,  under  the  constant 
guidance  of  virtue  and  of  sound  judgment.  Give 
to  your  country  great  and  bright  examples  of  gen 
uine  patriots  and  honest  men.  Teach  your  chil- 


WIRT'S  ADDRESS.  65 

then,  and  your  children's  children,  how  to  live  and 
how  to  die. 

Gentlemen,  I  arn  about  to  take  my  leave  of  you, 
and,  perhaps,  shall  never  see  you  more.  Indulge 
me,  then,  in  a  word  at  parting,  without  uttering 
which  I  cannot  leave  you  with  a  tranquil  con 
science.  I  have  endeavored  to  show  you  the  road 
to  worldly  eminence.  But  I  should  be  false  to  the 
trust  which  I  have  assumed,  of  communing  with 
you  freely  on  the  subject  of  your  happiness,  if  I 
did  not  tell  you  farther,  that  my  own  humble  expe 
rience,  so  far  as  it  has  gone,  accords  with  that  of  all 
men  in  all  ages,  that  there  is  no  worldly  eminence 
nor  any  other  good  that  this  world  can  bestow,  that 
will  not  leave  you  disappointed  and  unsatisfied. 
Pope  has  described  our  condition  in  a  single  line, 
with  melancholy  truth : 

"  Man  never  •/*,  but  always  to  be  blessed." 

Our  happiness  is  never  present,  but  always  in  pros 
pect.  We  are  constantly  reaching  forward  to  some 
object  ahead  of  us,  which  we  flatter  ourselves  will 
nil 

"  The  craving  void  now  aching  in  the  breast." 

Thus,  Hope  cheats  us  on,  from  point  to  point ;  and, 

at  the  close  of  a  long  life,  however  successful  it  may 

f 


66  wurrs  ADDKKSS. 

have  been,  we  find  that  we  have  been  chasing 
meteors  which  have  dissolved  at  the  touch.  We 
have,  it  is  true,  passing  amusements,  temporary 
gratifications,  which  satisfy  us  for  the  moment. 
This  day,  for  example,  is  one  of  them.  The  society, 
the  love,  the  applause  of  our  friends  is  sweet.  The 
admiration  of  the  world  is  thrilling.  But  we  soon 
collapse,  and  the  same  fearful  void  returns  to  haunt 
us.  We  strive  to  forget  it,  by  plunging  anew  into 
business.  We  endeavor  to  fill  our  minds  with  new 
occupations,  either  serious  or  frivolous.  We  start 
new  meteors,  that  we  may  run  away  from  ourselves 
in  the  chase.  We  seize  them,  and  they  burst — and 
the  same  fearful  phantom  of  desolation  stands  again 
before  us.  And  so  it  must  ever  be,  until  we  find 
some  object  that  can  fill  an  immortal  spirit  with  its 
immensity,  and  satisfy  those  vast  desires  with  which 
it  is  continually  burning.  Gentlemen,  all  experience 
confirms  the  truth  of  revelation,  in  this  :  that  Re 
ligion  is  the  only  pure  and  overflowing  fountain  that 
can  quench  the  thirst  of  our  spirits,  and  give  us 
ease  and  contentment,  even  in  this  world.  Every 
thing  else  leaves  us  feverish,  and  restless,  and  fret 
ful  ;  irritated  with  trifles ;  harassed  with  a  thou 
sand  real  or  imaginary  evils  ;  vexed  with  our  disap 
pointments,  and  mourning,  like  Alexander,  even 
over  our  victories. 

Lift  up  your  eyes,  then,  to  the  Hills  from  whence 


WIRTS   ADDRESS. 


coinetli  all  our  help ;  and  may  the  Being,  who  fills 
the  Heavens  and  the  Earth  with  His  Immensity, 
bless  you  with  that  Peace,  which  this  world  can 
neither  give  nor  take  away  ! 


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